Is this Population Health ?.

 

In the past several years the Epidemiology has been replaced with ‘Population Health”.  I never hear about epidemiology anymore.

Some could look  upon  the Affordable Care Act as a plan for improving health by ‘guaranteeing health insurance to all.   This however does not take into account the myriad complexity and reality of health and disease.

In 2010 the Affordable Care Act was passed into law. The law was passed unanimously by the democratic majority in Congress without Republican support. Due to our congressional structure roughly 1/2 of the country was disenfranchised in regard to decisions on health finance reform..

This produced much discontent which has gradually increased and even effected the supporters of the bill.

Many of the specific mandates are schedule to become effective on January 1, 2014.

White House delays employer mandate
Bending to criticism that requirements were burdensome and complex, the Obama Administration announced late Tuesday it would delay until 2015 a key provision in the healthcare reform law -- the requirement that businesses with more than 50 employees must offer them insurance. This portion of the ACA would force employers to offer health coverage to all full time employees, and require businesses with more than 50 employees to meet certain other requirements of the ACA.

Secondary consequences of the ACA are considerable, increased unemployment, increased part time work force, decreased hiring and loss of entrepreneurial spirit. The ACA increases the risk and cost of expanding a business.  All of these changes will be put on hold until January 2015.

This is only one of many issues that have become apparent. The Employer Mandate is the tip of an iceberg which also includes 1. The Individual Mandate 2. The  regulatory and enforcement activity by the IRS of the ACA.   3.Serious concerns by the health care system, hospitals and doctors.  

Physicians remain concerned over the future of U.S. healthcare, a new survey reveals. Among the survey’s findings, most physicians think EHRs and the ACA will adversely affect the quality of patient care, and nearly two-thirds anticipate that quality of healthcare will worsen over the next five years. 

The Physician Sentiment Index (PSI), conducted by Watertown, Mass.-based Athena health and Cambridge, Mass.-based Sermo, collected responses from 500 physicians who represented a diverse range of specialties and practices sizes. 

This year's PSI tells a story of over-burdened physicians who are deeply concerned about where the healthcare industry is headed. The data suggests the leading distractions affecting physicians' ability to provide the optimum care for patients center on government intervention, increased utilization of and frustration with EHRs and administrative burdens. All told, these distractions have diminished physicians' optimism around their ability to deliver quality care and remain viable, profitable practices. 

4. The sweeping tax supported incentives which include electronic medical records, health information exchanges, and training grants for health IT workers to implement HIT.

EHRs – more purchased, more in use, but what do docs think?

• 73 percent said EHRs are a distraction to doctor-patient interaction, up 12 percentage points from 2011.

• The number who purchased an EHR jumped 10 percentage points between 2011 and 2012 (from 70 percent to 80 percent). – Yet, very favorable opinions did not move in line –18 percent fewer voiced a very favorable opinion of EHRs (from 39 percent in 2011 to 32 percent in 2012).

• 36 percent more say they believe EHRs somewhat or significantly worsen patient care (from 11 percent in 2011 to 15 percent in 2012). 

• The majority (44 percent) says that the EHR was not designed with physicians in mind versus 32 percent in 2011

 

Doctors skeptical of regulation

 

• Over half (in 2012 and 2011) say that government involvement in regulation will not yield lower costs and better outcomes, with slightly more pessimism on display this year.

• A growing number concerned about the ACA’s impact on the quality of care:  Nearly one-third (29 percent) say they still do not understand the details and implications, compared to 22 percent in 2011.

• 16 percent said they'd like to see the ACA remain 'as is' (versus 11 percent in 2011).

• 53 percent report the ACA will have a detrimental effect on their ability to provide high quality care, versus 50 percent in 2011 – 43 percent more believe the ACA will be very detrimental to the delivery of quality of care (from 14 percent in 2011 to 20 percent in 2012).

• 26 percent want to see the entire ACA repealed (versus 21 percent in 2011).

• Three-quarters report that the meaningful use process is at least somewhat difficult and/or cumbersome.

• The ACO model draws concerns: More indicated ACOs as having a negative impact on quality of care (39 percent in 2012 versus 26 percent in 2011) and profitability (63 percent in 2012 versus 48 percent in 2011

 

Technorati Tags: meaningful use,aco,aca,emr,hit,irs,hhs,population health,psi,physician sentiment index,sermo,athenahealth,employer mandate,individual mandate

The Day After Independence Day

 

I thought of several ways to title this post. 1. Changes in Battlefield Medicine 2.Educational opportunities on line at MYVEHU. 3.What non-VA physicians should know about VA and/or Military Medicine.

This post seemed timely as we have just celebrated our freedoms and liberties defended by our warriors some of whom become severely wounded and challenged from their wounds. It also may explain the increased number of multiple limb amputees and how their mortality  has been drastically reduced, and how advanced technology is brought to the battlefield hospital for intervention during the window of opportunity within one hour of the injury. This is no accident and is due to carefully orchestrated teamwork of the involved professionals on the battlefield

There is a lesson to be learned for civilian medical care, both acute and chronic. ln our present system the majority of MDs practice in a relatively isolated clinic environment. Most of their professional organization takes place in the hospital as a member of the medical staff and their specialty department.  There is little opportunity to engage other specialists not in their own field. The individual excellence of each physician is in a silo (much like health information)

Civilians medicine is in the process of transitioning from the old model into one of integrated systems, and accountable care organizations, capable of using military models of care.

With this introduction, let’s move on to some specifics about the VA system, and also the medical departments of the armed services.

The Veteran’s Administration Health System offers continuing medical education for physicians and care-givers online, similar to many offerings for CME from universities and accredited programs.

MYVEHU is a source for VA personnel that also features topics relevant to the reorganization of civilian systems

 

Technorati Tags: battlefield medicine,myvehu,va medicine,va health system,military medicine,integrated system

A Message from Health Train Express

 

We interrupt our regularly scheduled posting to bring you a much more  Important message.

On this 4th of July I cannot think of anything more important nor seminal for us here in the U.S.A.

Take these images to heart.

 

Technorati Tags: july4,freedom,liberty,4th amendment,surveillance

The Impact of Pharma on Health Care Practice

 

Why Medical Marketing is Dangerous To You And Your Kids

You may find this sentiment paranoid, but the pernicious influence of Pharma money on unscrupulous doctors is a noted menace to public health, from the top of medical academia.

Harvard Medical School, the alma mater of Drs. Miller and Christakis, itself has a notorious history of influential psychiatrists paid by drug companies, disseminating dangerous practices. The psychiatrist Joseph Biederman--in 2007, ranked the second-highest producer of high-impact psychiatry papers--popularized attention deficit meds, as well as antipsychotic drugs as a treatment for "pediatric bipolar disorder." Kids' bipolar is a controversial diagnosis, since many psychiatrists believe the disorder's symptoms aren't detectable before adolescence--and yet the number of kids treated for bipolar increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003, no doubt due in part to Biederman's influence. Rules by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) limit a doctor to taking no more than $20,000 from a drug company whose drug he is funded by the NIH to research. Yet the New York Times revealed in 2008 that Biederman had taken $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug companies over 8 years, while researching and promoting their drugs, without disclosing to the NIH or to Harvard. In 2011, Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital denounced three psychiatrists, including Biederman, for taking secret Pharma pay for drugs they researched and promoted.

 

Doctor-Network Mapping: Propaganda-Machine, Healthcare Enabler, or Both?

Not that any of this is the fault of Drs. Miller and Christakis at Activate Networks, Inc. Their analytics tools seem likely to do good for medicine--promoting good health practices, from exercise to nutrition, not only in hospitals but also in corporate structures and communities. Outside of hospitals', doctors', and corporate networks, the company has applied its methods to the population of a whole city (Manhattan Beach, California), for a public health initiative by Healthways, a Tennessee-based "well-being company," using census data and publicly available address and co-ownership data to determine links between citizens, and to identify the community's most influential members to target for outreach.

But the market-forces of Big Pharma will lead inevitably to heavier pressures on doctors to sell out--to over-prescribe meds whose efficacy is supported mostly by industry-funded studies. And, because data-mining is a value-neutral tool, and Activate Networks is happy to get business from whatever customers want to pay (and Big Pharma is a deep-pocketed client)--the most influential doctors should be prepared to be bombarded with the full force of medical marketing. Docs, please, hold your ground.

 

Technorati Tags: healthways,big pharma,big data,joseph biederman,harvard medical school,christakis,medical marketing

Tales of the Zombie Apocalypse !

 

Alternate title:  How it only took 4 years to turn me into a zombie !!

 

By now you realize your medical education did not fully prepare you for life as a doctor

Our friend and colleague Zdogg was honored at a recent TEDMED presentation. His rap has made a mark in social media with a long list of YouTube videos.

Most physicians and providers need a dose of his hip hop and rap.

I share his video with you….there is not much more I can add.

Thank you Z   TEDMED will never be the same….

The Happy MD, are you out there"?

 

Technorati Tags: zombie,apocalypse,zdogg,tedmed,las vegas,primary care physicians,physician burnout,medicine

The Affordable Care Act, or IRS Tax Code 101

      

The Affordable Care Act is not really about Health Reform. It is about restructuring health service revenue cycles and the business of health payments. It also requires significant amendment to the IRS tax codes.

There is much more about IRS involvement than the ACA individual mandated insurance coverage. The extend of the change will be outlined below, one  the most intrusive is under ‘Collecting Information” and forms a close inter-relationship between IRS and HHS.  Little has been disclosed about this connection either by the HHS, CMS, nor media outlets.

Health Reform actually takes place with mandated change specified in the ACA and a second law, (much less known)....as

Through a series of manipulations, robbing Peter to pay Paul a series of tax increases take place up front and additional premiums will fund some of the later ACA implementation.

Further burdens include significant increased taxes, and major modifications to the IRS Tax Code, and the immediate secondary impact of increased tax reporting, administration, legal and accounting fees.

 

Charitable Hospital Tax:

Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine”:

Black liquor” tax hike:

Tax on Innovator Drug Companies

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike

Tax on Indoor Tanning Services:

Medicine Cabinet Tax:

HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike:

Surtax on Investment Income:

Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax:

Tax Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax

High Medical Bills Tax

Flexible Spending Account Cap

Retiree Rx Drug Coverage Tax Hike:

Compensation Limit:

PCORI Fee

Individual Mandate Tax

Employer Mandate Tax

Tax on Health Insurers

Excise Tax on Health Insurance

Distributing subsidies

Early Retiree Subsidy

Nonprofit Tax Exemption

Reinsurance Tax Exemption

State Exchange Tax Credit

Cost-Sharing Subsidy

Small Business Tax Credit:

Small Business Tax Exclusion

Indian Tribe Tax Exclusion:

Therapeutic Discovery Tax Credit:

Adoption Tax Credit:

Tax Exclusion for Dependent Coverage:

Advance Tax Credit and Cost-Sharing Reductions:

Health Care Services Loan Tax Exemption:

Collecting Information

1. State Exchange Information Reporting:

2. Exchange Participation Requirement:

3. Taxpayer Information Disclosure

4. Insurance Provider Information Reporting:

5. Large Employer Information Reporting:

6. Medicare Beneficiary Information Disclosure:

Enforcing compliance

Health Plan Penalty:

New Group Plan Penalty

Group Plan Compensation Discrimination Prohibition

Nonprofit Indicator System:

Small Business Exemption for Cafeteria Plans:

Corporate Tax Advance

Credit to Ryan Ellis and Americans for Tax Reform for their research on this list.  www.atr.org

1. “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: IRS Should Expand Its Strategic Approach to Implementation.”  Government Accountability Office, June 2011. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11719.pdf

The GAO report list 47 new IRS powers in Obama Care, but one has been repealed since the report was issued – the employee voucher requirement.  It would have required employers to provide free choice vouchers to certain employees who contribute over 8 percent but less than 9.8 percent of their household income to the employer’s insurance plan.  The voucher could have been used by employees to purchase health insurance though an exchange.

 

Technorati Tags: irs,hhs,ppaca,patient protection and affordability act,irs tax code,gao report,health reform law,cms,aca,blue Shield,hsa,individual mandate,exclusions,credits,penalties

Truthiness in Health Care

 

Contributed by Rob Lambert MD

This post is going to be a compilation of quotes from physicians who are far more articulate than I am, and who are also still in the trenches of the battle between providers, and CMS.  Sadly the very organization that was formed to insure health care to seniors (and others) has been corrupted by unknown forces (ie, too numerous to mention.

I can only sit here in my ‘lofty position’ either at the top or the bottom of the system.

My main advantage is I no longer have to look at my checkbook and decide what to pay first, or if at all. 

IRS, State Franchise Board, Payroll (probably the most important since my staff depends upon this for their very survival) (God bless them they must be more motivated (or in a self survival mode) than I ever was. Include also my accountant, attorneys, consultants, HIT vendors, Membership dues to 5 or six professional societies, including three separate medical society dues, County, State and the AMA. State Licensing fees ( a total rip off, outmoded, obsolete, underfunded )(our state fees are supposed to pay to run these organizaions)…However that money is probably been sequestered or is going to pay off some bonds to build a road.

Medical Staff dues (for three hospitals)  Malpractice premiums, property and liability, worker compensation premiums.

That is enough about me ,  on to some other thoughts from those in the trenches.

Rob Lamberts is one of those innovative leaders in practice management he was into EMRs and HIT long before the dawn of medicine by the byte. Now he is breaking new ground in direct pay revenue cycle. However that is a misnomer since there is no ‘cycle’  People actually pay at the door, in return for a substantial discount due to the decrease in overhead of not using IT, nor billing services, nor being at the mercy and whim of CMS and countless other insurance companies whose prime goal (despite the glowing marketing press releases) is to deny payment. This requires multiple billing cycle and more overhead.

 

Rob Lambert

“I’m Rob and I am a recovering doctor.  Yeah, I am recovering…doing a lot better, actually.  Things are tough, but they are a lot better since I left my destructive relationship with Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance companies.  I’ve had to learn how to manage my own money (now that I can’t count on them to bail me out any more), but things are looking a lot better.  I am beginning to see how much better it will be to be on my own.”

The key was when I realized that the system wasn’t going to change no matter how much I accommodated its unreasonable requests.  I felt that if I only did what it asked of me, however unreasonable, it would stop hurting me and, more importantly, my patients.  But I’ve come to see that all the promises to take care of me and my patients were written in sand, and that it couldn’t resist the temptation to cheat on me.  I tried to do what it asked of me, but as time went by I couldn’t take how dirty it made me feel.

But I can’t sit around and wait for the system to change any more.  My patients were getting less and less of my time, and I was getting to the breaking point.  I know there are a lot of other doctors who are willing to do whatever the system asks, but I can’t sit around and watch it self-destruct.  It’s not what’s best for the system, for us doctors, and for our patients.  Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is to let them self-destruct and pray that they finally take responsibility and learn the hard lessons.  I just hope that happens soon.”

Dr Lambert comes from the perspective of a group medical practice which he founded years ago as a solo doctor. Time and events corrupted his basic model despite and efforts to halt the steady deterioration in the group culture.  He resigned from the very group that he formed decades ago.

“But I don’t want to brag.  I’m no saint, and the system I’ve built to this point is far from perfect.  I’ve still not taken a paycheck, (HOW DOES HE DO THAT?) and that can’t go on too much longer.  Things could still go wrong.  But my decision to no longer try to live in my dysfunctional and destructive relationship has been worth the pain and uncertainty.  I miss the patients I had to leave behind, and I am sad to hear about the care they are getting.  I hope I can build something good enough that lets me offer to them what my new patients have, something I’d given up on: hope for the future of health care.”

Rob made a radical change to no longer take Medicare, nor private health insurers and accept only cash. He refuses to deal with insurers and any agreements are between patients and their insurer.  Dry Rob gets paid by  patients, and they bill their insurance companies.  That is the way it always worked until CMS and HHS entered the room.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  Thanks for listening.  One day at a time.

 

Logo attributable to “Musings of a Distractible Mind” 

Thoughts of an odd, but not harmful primary care physician.

 

LiveJournal Tags: rob lamberts md,distractible mind,cms,hhs,direct pay,concierge medicine,dr rob,emr,hit,seniors,medicare,irs scandal,accountant,attorneys,consultants,HIT vendors

Health 2014

We are at the half-way mark in 2013. In slightly more than five months, January 2014 many of the steps in the Affordable Care Act are mandated to launch.

Anyone able to read is keenly aware that not a minute or hour goes by unannounced without some breaking news about the future affordability of health reform, it’s consequences on your health and pocket book.

No doubt 2014 will be an adventure for patients, providers, hospitals, insurers and the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Blame not these changes on the bureaucrats, nor President Obama. Many of these features were developed during the earliest parts of the Clinton Administration, when William Jefferson Clinton charged Hillary Clinton with forming a national health plan. That was almost 20 years ago, near the end of the last century.  Somewhat like a  wine fermenting in a bottle, the temperature should be constant and moderate, and not subject to light, or physical stresses. 

Health Reform fills some of those metrics, however it certainly has been subject to physical stresses.  Light has not been a problem, since most of the negotiating and meeting were done in the dark. So dark that congressmen did not read it prior to their irresponsible and negligent passage of the bill.  Not one Republican voted for it, even the most liberal ones.

Fearful of being left behind and/or penalized financially all states are rushing to implement the ACA, with minimal losses and/or expense.  While the new system is taking root, the federal government will prop financing with subsidies. Self sustaining financing will not kick in for several years as the uninsured find their way into the system of eligibility.  Rather than employing already existing resources in health insurance agencies and experts, HHS has deemed it fit to employ and train “Navigators”, twenty thousand and something.  It is not clear to me how long they will be employed, nor why the feds chose this route.  It was a move that completely bypassed existing organizations, and has not endeared the affordable care act to that segment of the present system.

Here are some of the examples

A Louisville Clinic Races to Adapt to the Health Care Overhaul

A feature common to all is the lack of specifics financially on eligibility and/or the premiums and benefits..There is a website, discussing the ACA, and Health Benefit Exchanges, however most patients and even providers have been unable to grasp just how it will all flow together.  One of the biggest issues will be if physicians will accept patients from a health insurance exchange, and expanded Medicaid, and the ‘strings” attached to the program.  It certainly does not appear to decrease paperwork and bureaucracy, rather it increase it.  One example is the HHS requirement that providers re-apply for Medi-caid  privileges.  There is no grandfather clause.

The County Board of Supervisors in my city met with the administrator of the Regional Medical Center. The administrator has a 25 year history of running the  busy medical center. About 20 years ago it was moved from a dilapidated structurally unsound building to a brand new structure certified to withstand a 9.0 earthquake,  It is located just adjacent to the San Andreas Fault less than five miles to the east.

The Supervisors had some excellent advice from consultants (from back east) and one of the supervisors owns an interest in a pharmaceutical company.  He seemed to have a substantial knowledge base in how the system has worked, or not worked as the case may be.

A significant problem in the United States is that there is a Polymorphic system, each with it’s own models  for reimbursement and a very different corporate culture.

City hospitals, county hospitals, federal hospitals, native American hospitals and community medical centers all have a unique cohort of patients, with vastly different sources of revenues. The patients who  use each system are segregated economically from each other.

View Larger Map  Aerial Map  (Google)

View Larger Map Street View  (Google)

The county’s President of the Board proposed integrating private sources into the patient model of the county hospital that predominantly patients who are assisted by the Department of Social Services. He proposes that the County Hospital enter the market place to compete with standard insurance companies, and operate as it’s own Accountable Care Organization (ACO).  The facility is modern and will be staffed by trainees from the new University of California’s Riverside School of Medicine

Riverside has a significant number of uninsured.  The funding for the school , with it’s new buildings has been dicey during the recent years as a result of the state’s ongoing budget crises.  However local stakeholders, local private hospitals, medical groups, chambers of commerce, and business leaders have donated millions of dollars to offset state shortages.

Medcaid is controlled by counties who rely on the state for control and funding of their budgets.  They have little real interest in the health of their ‘clients’. Their true function is to minimize reimbursements to providers, hospitals and medical equipment companies in an adversarial role,not a supportive role.  In the current California system there are pockets of Managed care which function much better than FFS.  However the only Medicaid patient who can receive managed care in the current system  are the ones who have a zero share of cost.  Since share of cost in month to month the reality is that if an eligible person is eligible in one month due to limited income, if the income exceeds a set limit the next month they lose their managed care, and most likely their primary care M.D.  Few MDs participate in both programs since Medi-caid requires providers to be either FFS or prepaid and capitated.

It is truly chaotic and dysfunctional.  What is the ACA going to do about this process? Medi-caid will be inadequate as it is now structured and the promise of eligibility for insurance for this population is questionable without significant reform.  It may just be a mandate that will not work.

 

Technorati Tags: aca,affordable care act,medicaid,hhs,obamacare,healthreform,rcrmc,supervisors,huron,ucr,ucr school of medicine,medi-cal,university of calironia school of medicine,riverside board of supervisors,share of cost,md,provider

Social Media’s Role in Outreach for Studies and Surveys

Social media is now playing a role in population health research.

Social media is no longer an option, it is an expectation on the part of many people.

One of the goals of the affordable care act is commendable, that of developing the “Medical Home”. The concept of the "medical home" has evolved since introduction of the terminology by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1967, which was envisioned at the time as a central source for all the medical information about a child, especially those with special needs.  Prior to the era of over specialization the family physician and general practitioner served in this role.  A gradual disintegration of  their role due to  a number of factors, including the increasing shortage of primary care physicians has led to a breakdown in the established referral patterns.

Patient advocacy groups also describe a “Patient Centered System”, one in which participatory medicine plays a great role.

Dr. Victor Montori, Lead Investigator from the Knowledge and Encounter Research Unit at Mayo Clinic, explores patient compliance issues at Transform 2009, a symposium sponsored by the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation.

 

Person-Centered HealthCare- HealthCare Innovations Exchange: Short-Cut to Health Innovations News

Some physicians are aware of patient centered health care as part and parcel of ‘treating the whole patient, and not the disease. The person centered health care is nothing more than this concept.

Patients however are not that familiar with the new model for diagnosis and treatment.  They however are hungry for better patient More information needs to be offered to patients both in popular lay press, and especially social media. Social is a prime necessity for human existence, witness how isolation and social deprivation effect emotional health and interaction.

Social media offers a private, laid back approach to ideas, shared much like that at a coffee shop or around the ‘water cooler’ of life.

Person-Centered Health Care is a healthcare innovation. The Innovation Exchange provides support for not only patients and caregivers, it also provides support for physicians. With the Health Care Innovations Exchange,   AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)  has vetted and collated new and better ways of delivering health care in the hopes of speeding up the implementation of these tools. It offers busy health professionals and researchers a variety of opportunities to share, learn about, and ultimately adopt evidence-based innovations and tools suitable for a range of health care settings and populations.

Attributions:  Health Works Collective (exclusive post by) Amelia Burke-Garcia.

 

Technorati Tags: medical home,patient centric model,participatory medicine,victor montori,mayo clinic,innovation exchange,social media,amelia burke-garcia,ahrq,agency for healthcare research and quality

Medicare Costs Contained?

 

For the first time in 4 decades the cost of health care’s growth has slowed. This is not bad news however caution must prevail.

“This is understandable given the fact that health care spending represents nearly 18 percent of the overall economy and the Medicare and Medicaid programs combined account for nearly a quarter of the federal budget.”

What factors affect the medical cost trend?

Read more:  The Hill

However, despite this good news, or perhaps because of it, it is important that we make a point to emphasize the real and continued need for Medicare reform.
The Hill on Facebook

Much of the slow-down in spending growth can be attributed to the recession, which inevitably slows spending patterns across the board.  In addition, the imminent implementation of Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid expansions will further boost spending.

Medicare is projected to add 30 million new beneficiaries in the next 20 years – which will place significant added cost pressure on the program.  This trend cannot be altered, nor avoided nor wished away.  Adding 30 million people to the program will raise the cost of program and must be dealt with.

As important as program solvency and financial health are, finances are not the only reason to fix the Medicare program.  Medicare was developed in the 1960s and, as such, no longer meets the needs of the Medicare patient today.  Today’s beneficiaries have different demands; they are living longer with more chronic conditions, and are receiving care in a variety of settings.  Medicare must be updated to adapt to these changing demands so that patients can receive the best, most effective care.”

Physicians no longer practice 1964 medicine and in the 21st Century there will be further advances. The business and payment models and governance also must change.  Currently we have 2013 autos running on 1940s roads.  It is no wonder health costs have escalated. The old system has been inadequate.

In addition to reforming the  SGR (sustainable growth rate for physician fees),

Policymakers should look past the narrow reforms and short-term cost trends to deliver to beneficiaries a program that better meets their needs.

The Future for Medicare:

What You Need to Know

There are four proposals currently before Congress to reform aspects of Medicare. The Medicare Board of Trustees' 2013 report projects the Hospital Insurance Fund would become insolvent after 2026. 

This process is inextricably interwoven with current reforms including the Affordable Care Act, the formation of Accountable Care Organizations and major reimbursement reform (including conversion from ICD-9 to ICD-10 as well as health information technology, including electronic medical records, health information exchanges and health benefit exchanges come on line in 2014.

The challenges for health care professionals is enormous.

 

Technorati Tags: medicare,health reform law,sustainable growth,accountable care organization,affordable care act,aca,aco,hbx,hix,emr,the hill,medicaid,hie

Congress Has A Duty To Delay IRS Funding To Block ObamaCare's Implementation

 

In the midst of serious IRS ethical, moral and legal confusion, there is an inability to obtain accurate accountability for decision making.

Until these matters are successfully addressed expansion of IRS accounting and enforcement of Accountable Care Act monitoring and penalties for non-compliance with the mandate for obtaining health insurance coverage would be ill-advised.

The Galen Institute reports:

Americans already are fearful and confused about the sweeping changes that ObamaCare will inflict, and the widening IRS scandal deepens concerns about the agency’s major role in implementing and enforcing the health overhaul law.

Based upon Government Accountability Office data, we count 46 new responsibilities assigned to the IRS.

The Affordable Care Act assigns to the IRS  46 new responsibilities.

IRS officials have acknowledged the huge problems these major new responsibilities will create for the agency.

It is unprecedented in recent history, the amount of responsibility the IRS is being given in an area that most people don’t think of as an IRS function,” George said. Americans, he added, will have more questions about their taxes because of health care penalties or credits, flooding already busy call-in and walk-in tax help centers. “This is going to lead to problems, sir,” he testified.

Technorati Tags: irs,internal revenue services,hhs,ppaca,affordable care act,obamacare,penalties,mandates,gao,government accountability office,irs scandal

The Shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act

No law is perfect and often fails to attain it’s mission.  The ACA is like that, however it does many things counter to common sense and reduces the reality of purchasing insurance other than a mandated program that is unaffordable, and/or punitive.

For some workers, health reform brings no coverage, fewer hours

A common story is unfolding such as that of McCoy Faulkner who collects $81 a day as a substitute teacher in the Wake County (N.C.) Public School System. A mere sub, he has no benefits.

The 62-year-old former Raleigh, N.C., police officer shells out $580 a month for an individual insurance policy, more than half his monthly pay. The full-time teachers for whom Faulkner fills in, however, are eligible for free health insurance, with no monthly premiums, through their employer.

That’s why Faulkner was looking forward to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, figuring he was the kind of person that the health care reform law was designed to help. Under the new law, anyone who works 30 hours or more a week for a large business will be eligible for employer-sponsored health care.

But instead of adding subs like Faulkner to its health care plan, the school system is looking for ways to avoid doing so. Wake is considering restricting its 3,300-plus substitutes to working less than 30 hours a week, effective July 1.

The reason: If just a third of the system’s subs were to qualify for employer-sponsored insurance, it would cost Wake schools about $5.2 million.

Some businesses will restructure themselves to employ mostly, or only, part-timers.

It’s expected that some will opt for the fines. Nancy Adams, owner of two Piggly Wiggly grocery stores in North Carolina, said that’s one option under consideration for her business. The $2,000-per-worker fine would apply to just five full-time employees at the two stores, amounting to $10,000 a year, she said, because the law exempts the first 30 workers from the fine.

Adams said the company would save considerably and likely give workers a $2-an-hour pay raise to help them buy individual policies on a health care exchange. Such exchanges, created by the Affordable Care Act, are designed for those who buy coverage on their own.

Adams’ grocery business has 86 employees and currently provides insurance to 31 of them at a cost of about $120,000 a year. Insuring all those who work at least 30 hours would raise the cost to about $165,000, she said.

“We don’t have the pockets to pay an extra $45,000 for health insurance,” Adams said. “It’s huge.”.  And should opt in these costs will be passed along to consumers.

It becomes obvious that the results of Obamacare will have both direct and indirect increases for health insurance.

 

Technorati Tags: affordable care act,aca,health reform law

Mobile Health and the FCC

FCC Names New Director of Healthcare Initiatives

At a time when mobile health initiatives and mobile apps are flooding the market, the Federal Communications Commission has shown enough interest to appoint Matthew Quinn as Director of Healthcare Initiatives.  “In this role, Quinn leads the agency’s efforts in facilitating and promoting communications technologies and services that improve the quality of health care for all citizens and help reduce health care costs; facilitating the availability of medical devices that use spectrum; and ensuring hospitals and other health care facilities have required connectivity. In addition, Quinn advises the FCC on health issues, working closely with the team overhauling the $400 million Rural Health Care program, and coordinating with federal partners including the NIH and the FDA, and with the private health care sector to develop effective FCC programs related to healthcare technology.”

Mr. Quinn will have expanding responsibilities at his new position. FCC is currently working on health initiatives to improve and enhance wireless communications and broadband connectivity nationwide. Projects include the Healthcare Connect Fund to expand telemedicine and revising its experimental licensing program to open more pathways for mobile healthcare app development.

This quiet appointment which occurred in April comes at a time when wireless technology is critical, because both  wifi and cellular systems will be essential for health information technology. It becomes one more step for FCC oversight of it’s authority over the radio-frequency spectrum.

“The incumbent will lead the agency’s efforts in facilitating and promoting communications technologies and services that improve the quality of health care for all citizens and help reduce health care costs; facilitating the availability of medical devices that use spectrum; and ensuring hospitals and other health care facilities have required connectivity,” the posting read.

The job description includes advising the FCC on health issues, providing guidance to the team overhauling the $400 million Rural Health Care program, working with other government bodies like the NIH and the FDA, and working with the private health care sector to develop effective FCC programs.

The job description includes advising the FCC on health issues, providing guidance to the team overhauling the $400 million Rural Health Care program, working with other government bodies like the NIH and the FDA, and working with the private health care sector to develop effective FCC programs.

The West Health Institute’s director of public policy Kerry McDermott was the last person to head up health care initiatives for the FCC.  McDermott previously led the FCC’s healthcare efforts and helped Mo Kaushal and Spencer Hutchins write the healthcare chapter in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. Following the National Broadband Plan’s publication all three of them left the FCC to join the then-named West Wireless Health Institute. In 2011 the American Telemedicine Association published an open letter to the FCC criticizing the agency for going “silent” on healthcare since the publication of its National Broadband Plan in early 2010. In its letter the ATA also noted “the departure of every key professional staff from the Commission involved in healthcare policy.”

Last September the FCC held a public briefing this week with its mHealth Task Force, which formed in June 2012 to gather input from healthcare professionals and technologists to create a report full of “concrete” next steps that the FCC (and other agencies) can take to facilitate the adoption and acceleration of mHealth in the United States. One of the task force’s key suggestions was that the FCC hire a new healthcare director immediately.

My impression is that this is a low level appointment designed to give the appearance of FCC engagement in health.  It seems to be a redundant position one which is less necessary than FDA guidance for mobile health apps.

 

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