Archive for the ‘Medicare’ Category
WHAT WE’RE READING: Pinterest Gains Popularity Among Providers
- “Hospitals Show Interest in Pinterest Marketing,” Fierce Healthcare: Don’t worry… it doesn’t involve your doctor’s favorite decorating tips.
- “Five Myths About Medicare,” Washington Post: For people who Medicare about the truth. Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: Advocacy Groups Oppose Offsets in ‘Doc Fix’ Legislation
Several advocacy groups last week criticized the offsets included in legislation that delays scheduled cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement rates, saying they are short-sighted and will have adverse effects on long-term efforts to combat obesity, cancer and other diseases, CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 2/17). Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: Congress Approves Payroll Tax/’Doc Fix’ Deal
The House and Senate today voted to approve legislation (HR 3630) that would extend the payroll tax cut, continue unemployment benefits and delay scheduled cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement rates, the Wall Street Journal reports. Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: Payroll Tax/’Doc Fix’ Conference Committee Finalizes Deal
The conference committee charged with developing an extension of the payroll tax cut, continuing unemployment benefits and delaying scheduled cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement rates came to a finalized agreement (HR 3630) late last night, the New York Times reports. Negotiations concluded with about an hour to spare before a midnight deadline to prepare a bill for a House vote on Friday (Steinhauer/Pear, New York Times, 2/15). Leaders of the committee hope the bill will be ready for President Obama’s approval before the congressional recess starts at the end of this week (Goldfarb/Weyl, CQ Today, 2/16). Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: Payroll Tax/’Doc Fix’ Conference Committee Reaches Tentative Deal
The conference committee charged with developing an extension of the payroll tax cut, continuing unemployment benefits and delaying scheduled cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement rates on Tuesday came to a tentative agreement, the New York Times reports (Steinhauer, New York Times, 2/14). Members of the committee and their aides said the deal still is being finalized, but they are optimistic that an agreement would be announced on Wednesday and approved by Friday (Kane/Nakamura, Washington Post, 2/14).
The announcement came just one day after House Republicans said they would introduce legislation this week to extend the payroll tax break through the end of the year without cost offsets (New York Times, 2/14). Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: House GOP Agree To Extend Payroll Tax Cut Without ‘Doc Fix,’ Unemployment Benefits
House Republicans yesterday said they will introduce legislation to extend the payroll tax break through the end of the year without cost offsets, but they will allow the conference committee to continue negotiating proposals to delay scheduled Medicare physician reimbursement rate cuts and extend unemployment benefits, the Wall Street Journal reports (Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, 2/14). The move comes after GOP leaders for weeks insisted that they would not accept extensions to the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits or a “doc fix” without offsets (Steinhauer, New York Times, 2/13). Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: Democrats Expected To Release ‘Doc-Fix’ Funding Proposal
Democrats today are expected to release a package of funding measures for an extension of the payroll tax cut and a delay to scheduled cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement rates, Modern Healthcare reports (Daly, Modern Healthcare, 2/8).
Democrats earlier this week rejected a $150 billion package of offsets proposed by Republicans. They said the proposals already were in a House-approved GOP payroll measure that does not have enough support to pass in the Senate (American Health Line, 2/8). Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: Appeals Court Rules Medicare Eligibility Cannot Be Rejected
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that U.S. residents enrolled in Social Security cannot forgo their legal right to receive Medicare benefits, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports. Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’S TOP STORY: Payroll Tax/’Doc-Fix’ Committee Looks For a ‘Fresh Start’ on Stalled Talks
The conference committee charged with developing an extension of the payroll tax cut and delaying scheduled reimbursement cuts to Medicare physicians is emphasizing a “fresh approach” to stalled negotiations, CQ HealthBeat reports.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp (R-Mich.), who is heading up the conference committee, has called on conferees to focus on policy before discussing cost. The lawmakers must find more than $160 billion over 10 years to offset the extensions before the end of February, when the previous two-month agreement expires. Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’S TOP STORY: Disagreement Over Offsets for Payroll Tax/’Doc-Fix’ Could Derail Bipartisan Consensus
The committee charged with developing an extension of the payroll tax cut and delaying scheduled reimbursement cuts to Medicare physicians met Wednesday to discuss a yearlong extension of the initiatives, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The lawmakers must find more than $150 billion to offset the extensions. They have until the end of February, when the previous two-month agreement expires (Taylor, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 2/1). Read the rest of this entry »
