Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Advocates Press Congress To Help Beneficiaries Facing Steep Premium Hike
Morning Consult: Some Medicare Beneficiaries Could Face Premium Increases, Again
Congress will likely need to take action for the second year in a row to keep out-of-pocket health care costs from significantly rising in 2017 for some seniors. A group of 75 health care and employer groups on Tuesday sent congressional leaders a letter urging them to prevent this from happening. It won’t be clear whether Congress has to do anything until next month, but the advocates are preparing anyway. It’s looking likely that a congressional fix will be needed. The Medicare Trustees report, released in June, estimated that premiums for Medicare’s doctor benefit, or Part B, would increase by 22 percent next year for a select group of seniors. The trustees also estimated that the Part B deductible would rise from $166 to $204 next year for all enrollees. (Owens, 9/27)
Modern Healthcare: Why CMS Wants Surgeons To Code Every 10 Minutes
The comments flooded in after the CMS proposed in July that surgeons collect data on every 10 minutes of perioperative activity. “Undue burden,” the American Medical Association called the suggested requirement. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons warned the approach “is onerous and will result in underreporting of data.” To stop and code how they spend every 10 minutes of their time would be a tall order to ask of anyone, much less busy doctors and surgeons. So why did the CMS do it? (Whitman, 9/28)
The Associated Press: Hospital Chain Settles Medicare Suit For $32.7 Million
A national hospital chain headquartered in central Pennsylvania has agreed to pay $32.7 million to resolve allegations that it billed Medicare for medically unnecessary services. The Department of Justice alleged that between 2006 and 2013, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania-based Vibra Healthcare admitted patients to five long-term health care hospitals and an inpatient rehabilitation facility although their symptoms didn’t qualify them for admission. (9/28)
Miami Herald: Bascom Doctor Accuses UM, Colleague Of Medicare ‘Malfeasance’
A four-year-old lawsuit between a pair of star doctors who had a falling out at the nation’s No. 1 ranked eye institute, Miami-based Bascom Palmer, was finally unsealed on Wednesday — revealing allegations of “false claims” for procedures billed to Medicare based on “fabricated” patient evaluations. Dr. Philip Rosenfeld, a retinal specialist, accused his one-time colleague, Dr. Timothy Murray, an oncology eye surgeon, along with Bascom’s corporate parent, the University of Miami, of committing fraud in a whistle-blower action. (Weaver, 9/28)
