Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Administration's Pledge To Pay For 'Quality' Health Care Faces Obstacles
The Wall Street Journal: Debate Heightens Over Measuring Health-Care Quality
The Obama administration’s goal of tying more Medicare payments to the quality—not the quantity—of health care by 2018 has intensified the debate over how “quality” is defined and measured. (Beck, 1/30)
The Washington Post: The Biggest Challenge Facing The Government’s New Plan For Better Health Care
The Obama administration earlier this week announced a not-so radical idea: Medicare, the massive health-care program for seniors, should do a much better job of paying doctors and hospitals for quality, not quantity, when it comes to care. ... On its face, it sounds reasonable enough. Who doesn't want to cut waste in America's $2.9 trillion health-care system and improve the kind of care that patients get? But actually determining the quality of this care is tough business. (Millman, 1/30)
The Wall Street Journal: Medicare To Publish Physician-Payment Data Yearly
The U.S. government will begin releasing Medicare physician-payment records every year, cementing public access to how tens of billions of dollars are spent annually on everything from office visits to radiation therapy. Last April, a year’s worth of the data was released for the first time in more than three decades after Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones & Co. challenged a 1979 injunction that prohibited Medicare from disclosing its payments to doctors. It was unclear at the time if any more records would be released. (Stewart and Carreyou, 2/1)
Also in Medicare news, federal officials have proposed new rules that will offer coverage for routine HIV testing.
The Hill: Medicare Plans To Cover HIV Testing
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) wants Medicare to cover routine HIV testing. Under the proposed rule, people ages 15 to 65 will be able to get annual HIV screening. Adolescents under the age of 15 and adults over the age of 65 can receive an annual voluntary screening if they have an increased risk for HIV. (Wheeler, 1/30)
