Dr.Dreams A Health,Medical & Wellness Blog » health reform

What the Finance Committee Bill Means for Doctors

Martin Neumann — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:24:28 +0000

Paying doctors and hospitals for high-quality care, rather than for volume of care , is central to slowing the growth of health costs, lots of health wonks say. But figuring out how to do that is really tough. Latest example: A provision in the health-care bill being endlessly kicked around the Senate Finance Committee would reduce Medicare payments to doctors who order the most tests and treatments for their patients. Not a popular provision among doctors! The provision does adjust for severity — that is, it recognizes that doctors with sicker patients will order more tests and treatments. But docs are skeptical of such adjustments. “Those things are very imperfect, imprecise and they depend on data that often doesn’t really reflect what’s going on,” one doc told the WSJ . There are several other doctor-related measures in the Senate Finance bill, the WSJ notes: The bill would give bonus Medicare payments to primary care doctors, and cut payments to medical specialists. Primary care doctors often have less training than specialists and tend to make far less money. Some experts warn of a shortage of primary care docs as young physicians choose higher-paid specialties. Another provision would make it more difficult for doctors to own a share in hospitals — not surprising given long-running opposition from Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley , the committee’s chairman and ranking Republican. The Finance bill wouldn’t block scheduled cuts to Medicare payments to physicians. The House health-care bill does block those cuts, which was key to winning support from the AMA and other doctors’ groups. The AMA hasn’t taken a position on the Senate Finance bill.

Read the original here:
What the Finance Committee Bill Means for Doctors

Report Paints Dark Picture of Health-Care Costs in 2019

Martin Neumann — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:37:32 +0000

If you think U.S. health-care spending is out of control today, just wait a decade. A

View original post here:
Report Paints Dark Picture of Health-Care Costs in 2019

Race for Multiple Sclerosis Pill Continues With Novartis Results

Sean Duffy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:35:49 +0000

All of the drugs approved to treat multiple sclerosis are given by injection, which is less comfortable and less convenient than taking a pill. Novartis is one of several drug makers working on pills to treat the disease, and the company said today that its experimental medicine, fingolimod, fared well in a late-stage study that included more than 1,000 patients. The company plans to apply for approval for the drug in the U.S. and Europe by the end of the year. Merck KGaA (a German company not connected to the U.S. Merck) has already applied for approval of its own oral M.S. drug in Europe, and said earlier this month that a U.S. application is imminent. That drug is called cladribine. That means that one or both drugs could be on the market some time next year — but given the FDA’s cautious stance on approving new drugs, it’s anybody’s guess when or if the drugs will make it to market. Novartis said today that over the course of two years, patients who took fingolimod were 54% less likely than those who took placebo to have an M.S. flare-up of the disease. In an earlier study, patients who took fingolimod, also known by the catchy name FTY720, were less likely to have flare-ups than patients who took interferon, a drug commonly used to treat multiple sclerosis. It’s worth noting that today’s results come in the form of a press release from Novartis, not in the form of a peer-reviewed publication. It’s common for companies to announce results as soon as they have them, then follow with a full journal article or conference presentation. Biogen Idec also has an M.S. pill, BG-12 , in late-stage trials. Update : EMD Serono, a Merck KGaA subsidiary, said today that it filed for FDA approval of its oral M.S. drug.

Originally posted here:
Race for Multiple Sclerosis Pill Continues With Novartis Results

Health Care Bills Subsidize Out-of-Pocket Costs for Some

Dr Joe — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:50:02 +0000

There’s been a lot of focus – including in my column today – on the subsidies that the health-overhaul bills would provide to aid lower-income people in paying their health insurance premiums. But there’s another twist that may matter just as much to consumers: how much help those same folks will get with their out-of-pocket costs. This varies between the different bills now working their way through Congress. And as lawmakers try to crunch costs, these subsidies may be easier to trim because they’re less visible than the premium subsidies. The House bill , at least in its current incarnation, would provide credits that would rein in out-of-pocket costs for people between 133% and 350% of the federal poverty level, which is around $38,000 for an individual and about $77,000 for a family of four. They’re on a sliding scale, so people making up to 150% of poverty only have to pay around 3% of the costs of their covered benefits, while those at 350% pay 28%. At 400%, folks pay 30%, but that’s the minimum for plans anyhow in that bill. The Senate Finance bill would help less, fitting with Sen. Baucus’s effort to keep the bill’s price tag down. Those between 100% and 150% of poverty would only have to pay around 10% of the cost of their covered care. From 150% to 200%, it’d be 20%. The credits don’t appear to go to people making more than 200% of the poverty level, which is around $22,000 for an individual and about $44,000 for a family of four.

Read the rest here:
Health Care Bills Subsidize Out-of-Pocket Costs for Some

Health-Care Overhaul: Abortion, Public Option & Young Adults

Martin Neumann — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:19:01 +0000

Here are a few of the stories on the health-care overhaul that caught our eye this morning: Abortion continues to play a role in the health care debate, the New York Times reports . The issue is dividing Dems, the article says. Some argue that the current health-care bills already prohibit using federal funds to pay for abortions, while others say more explicit prohibitions are needed for those who would receive government subsidies to purchase health insurance. For more on the subject, see this WSJ story from last month, and this WSJ.com column from Steven Waldman on how to keep the health-care overhaul neutral on abortion. A government-backed insurance plan — aka the public option — is unlikely to be part of whatever health-overhaul bill makes it out of the Senate Finance Committee. But backers are still pushing for several public-option amendments likely to come up for a vote in the committee today, Politico reports . Young adults continue to support the health-care overhaul, the WSJ reports . The 18-34s were the only age group in the most recent WSJ/NBC News poll that favored a public option as part of the overhaul. The story also notes that those in that age group expressed less of a firm grasp on the debate than those 65 and older.

See more here:
Health-Care Overhaul: Abortion, Public Option & Young Adults

Von Eschenbach Takes New Job — Trying to Overhaul FDA

Sean Duffy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:29:15 +0000

Former FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach has joined Newt Gingrich’s health think tank, the Center for Health Transformation, as an adviser. He will lead the center’s “21st Century FDA Modernization Project,” which will look at improving the effectiveness of the FDA, according to a press release. Von Eschenbach, an appointee of George W. Bush, left the agency this year to retire to his home state of Texas while still doing some health-related consulting. His government work also had included heading the National Cancer Institute for several years. The Center for Health Transformation project wants to speed up the approval of new drugs, which its spokeswoman said in a statement take 17 years to get to a patient. Doctors at the Public Citizen Health Group have said that 17-year figure is inflated and represents an industry viewpoint. Von Eschenbach was criticized in Congress during the contaminated heparin disaster in spring 2008 for declining to request more money to beef up FDA inspections of overseas plants, such as those in China. No political appointee at an agency is supposed to suggest that the White House has been too cheap in its budget. But von Eschenbach eventually found a way to do so, writing a letter in May 2008 to his friend, then-Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, saying that the FDA could really use a fast $275 million for such enforcement actions. He got the bucks. Since von Eschenbach’s departure, new FDA Commissioner Margaret “Peggy” Hamburg has been trying to streamline the agency she inherited, by restructuring parts of it to put similar issue areas together and enhancing its speed and accountability, her deputy, Joshua Sharfstein, has said. Photo: Getty Images

Read the original post:
Von Eschenbach Takes New Job — Trying to Overhaul FDA

Poll: Make Insurers Cover People With Pre-Existing Conditions

Dr Dreams — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:24:01 +0000

Buried on page 17 of the latest WSJ/NBC poll is an interesting table on priorities for the health-care overhaul. Respondents were given several live policy proposals and asked whether each should or shouldn’t be included in the final health care legislation. Most popular by a mile: “Requiring that health insurance companies cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.” Sixty-three percent of respondents said that proposal “absolutely must” be included as part of any final legislation, and another 26% said they “would prefer” for it to be included. Limiting the amount of money patients can collect after being injured by bad medical care was a distant second, with 36% of respondents saying legislation “absolutely must” contain such a provision, and another 29% saying they’d prefer it. That was followed by requiring most employers to offer insurance or pay a fee. Creating a government-backed plan to compete against private insurers came next. If you lump together the “absolutely musts” and the “would prefers,” both of those proposals got support from a majority of respondents. In fact, only one option offered by the pollsters was not backed by a majority of respondents: Requiring everyone to buy health insurance, and providing government assistance for low- and moderate-income people to do so. Only 18% of respondents said legislation “absolutely must” include such a provision, and another 20% said they’d prefer it. Here’s the thing, though: If lawmakers do what the public seems to want — require insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions, without requiring everyone to buy insurance — they could create a perverse incentive for people to game the system. Don’t bother with insurance premiums when you’re healthy, then get coverage only if you really need it, when you get sick.

Here is the original:
Poll: Make Insurers Cover People With Pre-Existing Conditions

Protesters Rally With Gripes Against Big Health Insurers

Martin Neumann — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:55:29 +0000

Health-overhaul advocates turned out across the country today at rallies targeted against insurance companies and promoting a public insurance alternative as part of health legislation. MoveOn.org, Health Care for America Now and labor unions said they organized about 150 gatherings, which followed last month’s raucous town-hall meetings focused on the health overhaul. Today’s protesters took aim at the insurance industry for standing in the way of real health-care change, which many of the demonstrators think should include a government-run health plan. Private insurers have agreed to some concessions –- including taking all comers, regardless of health status –- but oppose a public plan , saying it could disrupt coverage for insured Americans. The Health Blog caught up with the rally in New York (pictured above) where about 500 people holding signs and chanting “corporate greed has got to go” clustered outside UnitedHealth Group’s Manhattan offices to deliver a list of demands to the insurer. One group, dressed to portray wealthy health-insurance executives, held signs that said, “Because nothing says freedom like denying claims.” Theresa Lee, one of the protesters, said she was there because a five-month hospital stay in 2000 convinced her how broken the U.S. health-care system is. She says she was admitted with a spinal-cord inflammation after a doctor refused to take her earlier symptoms seriously, a problem she blames on the fact that she didn’t have insurance at the time. “It is absolutely nuts out there,” she says. UnitedHealth spokesman Don Nathan, who greeted the protesters outside the building, explained to them that the company had already agreed to a lot of their demands. “While it is unfortunate that there is diversionary rhetoric that mischaracterizes our contribution to the health care system and our role in the health reform discussion,” a statement said, “We remain focused on the complex task of achieving sustainable changes in our health care system and giving more people access to the care they need and deserve.” Other protests were held at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where WellPoint CEO Angela Braly was delivering a speech, and in Hartford, Conn., where Aetna is based. Stars like Will Ferrell and Jon Hamm are joining the act , too. Photo: Getty Images

Go here to see the original:
Protesters Rally With Gripes Against Big Health Insurers

Should Retouched Fashion Photos Carry Warning Labels?

Sean Duffy — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:37:40 +0000

Can fashion photos that have been retouched to make models look impossibly skinny pose a risk, say, to young, impressionable girls who see the photos and want to look like the models? Some French legislators think so. About 50 members of France’s Parliament have proposed a law that would require labels that say when fashion and advertising photos have been digitally retouched, the Telegraph reports . “Many young people, particularly girls, do not know the difference between the virtual and reality, and can develop complexes from a very young age,” said Valérie Boyer, a French lawmaker who backs the bill. “In some cases this leads to anorexia or bulimia and very serious health problems.” Boyer also backed a law last year that would have banned so-called thinspiration Web sites that promote eating disorders and provide tips on self-starvation. Health Blog Question of the Day : Should retouched fashion photos carry a notice that they’ve been altered? Photo: iStockphoto

View original post here:
Should Retouched Fashion Photos Carry Warning Labels?

Kerry: Tax on Medical-Device Makers Could Derail Innovation

Dr Joe — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:29:46 +0000

Sen. John Kerry hasn’t been shy about supporting new taxes to pay for the health-care overhaul. The Massachusetts Democrat was the force behind a provision in the Senate Finance Committee’s health bill that puts a 35% tax on generous health-insurance plans, the bill’s main source of new revenue. But when it comes to the bill’s proposed tax on medical-device makers, Kerry is striking a different tone. At a committee meeting on the health bill today, he said he’s concerned about a proposal that would tax device makers $4 billion annually. He argued that such a levy could discourage makers of medical equipment from creating better new products. “I don’t want to see that innovation stifled,” the former Democratic presidential candidate said. He has another reason to be concerned. Massachusetts is home to a slew of medical-device makers, including such biggies as Boston Scientific, which sells $8 billion of medical devices each year. Other Democrats whose states are home to big medical device makers are also coming out against the tax. Last week, Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken of Minnesota joined with Indiana Sens. Evan Bayh, a Democrat, and Dick Lugar, a Republican, and asked Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to reconsider the fee. “This industry should not be forced to pay more than its fair share,” the senators said in a letter. Device maker Medtronic is headquartered in Minneapolis and Guidant, part of Boston Scientific, has offices in Indianapolis.

Read more from the original source:
Kerry: Tax on Medical-Device Makers Could Derail Innovation