By ROGER COLLIER One thing about a democracy, everyone is entitled to publish their predictions about the future, and on the costs (or savings) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act over the 2010-2019 decade, there are enough to…  Read More →

By ED PULLEN, MD I really dislike the term healthcare reform. I think our system needs to be changed not reformed. I assume that I am not the only person who suspects that the recent health care reform act is…  Read More →

By MAGGIE MAHAR This week, the Cato Institute released a 52-page report on health care reform titled: Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law. The tract was written by Michael Tanner,…  Read More →

By EDWARD D. MILLER, MD Dr. Miller is the Dean and CEO of The Johns Hopkins University Medical School. These remarks were made at the National Press Club, June 21, 2010. I. The Promise of Medicine Let me start with…  Read More →

On March 18, 2010, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posted a copy of the 153 page Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R.4872) on her website . On her website , House Speaker Pelosi has also posted a Summary and Section-By-Section Analysis of H.R.4872 and a document pointing out reported improvements to the Senate health care reform bill (H.R.3590). A number of news organizations report that the House may vote on H.R.4872... 

On March 2, 2010, The White House blog released a letter from President Obama to Congressional leaders, which follows up on the February 25, 2010 bipartisan health care reform meeting (or so-called summit). In the letter, President Obama reports that the Administration is exploring at least 4 policy priorities identified by Republicans including engaging “medical professionals to conduct random undercover investigations of health care providers... 

Below are the top ten Medicare Update posts during February 2010 (based on the number of views): 1)   Draft Jobs Bill Would Delay Medicare Physician Payment Cuts Until October 2010 2)    CMS Releases Advance Notice of 2011 MA and Part D Plan Payment Policies With Draft Call Letter 3)   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to Reportedly Undergo Structural Reorganization 4)   CMS Releases National Health Expenditure Projections 5)... 

President Obama’s bipartisan meeting (or summit) on health reform will take place at 10:00 a.m. (EST) on February 25, 2010 and will stream live below and at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live JOIN THE LIVE CHAT VISIT WHITEHOUSE.GOV Subscribe to Medicare Update, follow me on Twitter @MedicareUpdate , and become a fan on Facebook .  Read More →

On February 22, 2010, a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director’s Blog post revealed that the CBO will be unable to provide a cost estimate of President Obama’s health care reform proposal prior to the February 25, 2010 bipartisan health care reform meeting (or so-called summit). In fact, the post states, in part, the following: “Although the proposal reflects many elements that were included in the health care bills passed... 

On February 22, 2010, President Obama released his health care reform proposal in advance of a bipartisan health reform meeting , which will take place on February 25, 2010. In brief, President Obama’s proposal basically tracks the reform legislation passed by the Senate, tries to bridge key differences between Senate and House reform legislation, and includes some new policies in the areas of: Improving affordability and accountability Cracking... 

In a recent post , The White House Blog includes a letter from Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius outlining the agenda for the upcoming February 25, 2010 health care summit. According to the letter , President Obama is inviting the most senior House of Representative and Senate leaders as well as chairmen and ranking members of the committees that oversee health insurance reform.  The White House has released a list... 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has prepared an analysis of projected national health care expenditures through 2019, which has been published on-line by the journal Health Affairs . The growth in U.S. health care spending is projected to be 5.7 percent in 2009 and reach $2.5 trillion. As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), CMS projects that health care spending will increase to 17.3 percent in 2009 (from 16.2... 

Below are the top ten Medicare Update posts during January 2010 (based on the number of views): 1)   CMS Proposes Meaningful Use Definition and Standards for Electronic Health Record Incentives Program 2)   DOJ/HHS to Hold National Summit on Health Care Fraud 3)   New Requirements Cause Thousands of DMEPOS Suppliers to Exit Medicare Program 4)   Region D Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor Adds More CMS Approved Audit Issues 5)   Region... 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2010 to 2020 (Report).  Read More →

On January 15, 2010, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced in a Press Release that it will launch the following television ad campaign this Saturday (January 16, 2010) in 10 states, which calls on the U.S. Senate to take permanent action to fix the Medicare physician payment formula. According to the AMA’s Press Release : “This ad is the opening salvo in our two-month campaign to urge the Senate to take immediate action to...