Early this morning, the White House announced that President Obama would use a recess appointment to install Dr. Don Berwick as Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid. A long-time proponent of healthcare reform and patients’ rights, Dr. Berwick is the ideal candidate to lead CMS in implementing the changes called for in the Affordable Care Act.
Dr. Berwick has been praised throughout the medical community for his extensive work to create a safer and more effective healthcare system. Most recently, he served as President of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, where he launched the 5 Million Lives Campaign to reduce preventable mortality. Rich Umdenstock, President and CEO of the American Hospital Association, best described the health industry’s view towards Dr. Berwick in a statement of support to Senator Baucus:
“Dr. Berwick… is a trusted and respected voice among hospitals, as well as within the larger health care community. His knowledge of our health care delivery system, its strengths and weaknesses make him uniquely suited to implement provisions in the recently enacted health care reform law.”
Despite Dr. Berwick’s many qualifications to lead CMS, many opponents of health reform remain obstinately opposed to his appointment. Senator Barrasso (R-WY) stated that Dr. Berwick is a “self professed supporter of rationing health care and he won’t even have to explain his views to the American people in a hearing.” However, the President was driven to use a recess appointment because of lawmakers like the Wyoming senator, who saw Dr. Berwick’s nomination as an excuse to reignite the debate over healthcare reform. Even Tom Scully, who served as CMS Administrator from 2001 to 2003, noted that Berwick is “universally regarded and a thoughtful guy who is not partisan. I think it’s more about the health care bill. You could nominate Gandhi to be head of CMS and that would be controversial now.”
Hopefully, this appointment will force politicians to lay their partisan beliefs aside and allow Dr. Berwick and the CMS to bring about the change our healthcare system so desperately needs. As White House blogger Dan Pfieffer put it, “there’s no time to waste with Washington game-playing.”
On June 25th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would issue a rule that would expand preventive services for Medicare beneficiaries, improve payments for primary care services, and promote access to health care services in rural areas. The proposed rule, effective January 1, 2011, is the first major step CMS has taken to implement the Affordable Care Act of 2010.
According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, support for the Affordable Care Action law is increasing among Americans. 48 percent of those polled in June 2010 had favorable views about the health reform law, up seven percentage points from last month.
Even as the movement to reform healthcare gained momentum this week, we were reminded that there are many other areas of the health industry that still need attention and improvement. The Associated Press published an article today claiming that 9 out of 10 doctors overtest and overtreat patients to avoid malpractice lawsuits. The article, based on a survey published in the most recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, underscores the danger of a system where doctors’ fears of being sued determine their medical decisions.
On Thursday, June 24, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962, which will temporarily “fix” the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. This legislation reverses the 21 percent pay cut that went into effect on June 1st and increases physician pay by 2.2 percent for the next six months. If Congress does not reach a more permanent solution by December 1st, the 21.3 percent cut will be restored, which may lead some doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients.
WATCH NOW: Senator Baucus thanks Doctors for America for their support of health care reform today. Look carefully, familiar faces at the beginning of the footage.
The Washington Post’s comparison of the Senate and House Health Care Reform bills:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/health/compare-health-plans-2009/?hpid=topnews
Check out NPR’s story about a big reform for health insurance — eliminating payment denials based on “pre-existing” conditions. A fresh take by talking to the real people who determine “Pre-Existing Conditions:”
One part of the health care overhaul bill does seem to have broad support. It would change the individual insurance market — that’s where people buy insurance on their own, rather than through an employer. Under the measure, insurance companies would not be allowed to deny you coverage based on pre-existing medical conditions.
Many have been following the question of the “doc fix” — Wall Street Journal has an update:
Medicare Payments to Docs: Here Comes the Two-Month Patch
By Jacob Goldstein
All year, Congress has been trying to figure out what to do about the 21% cut in Medicare payments to doctors that’s set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2010. The latest legislative maneuver would block the cut — but only for two months.
That short-term patch is tucked inside a big defense spending bill the House passed today.
Dr. Nancy Snyderman talks with ER specialist Dr. Mark Morocco of UCLA Medical Center. He makes the case for health reform and talks about the ways Emergency Rooms should be used… take a look.
Doctors for America is a grassroots group of over 14,000 physicians with a presence in all fifty states committed to passing meaningful health reform legislation. The group works to convey the ideas and experiences of physicians in order to achieve reform that provides high quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.
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