A Time for Gratitude and Leadership
Rich Umbdenstock, AHA President and CEO
As we celebrate the birth of our nation and its individual liberties, Americans grapple with two fears that dwell heavily - economic stability and health security. Our economy is vulnerable. People have felt the impact on their jobs, their savings and their mortgages. At the same time, the increasing cost of care, shrinking coverage and decreasing access also weigh on them. For those with financial stability and health security, there's much for which to be grateful. For those without them, they need our support and leadership.
The weeks ahead will test our national character as well as our field's courage and commitment. Soon, all of the reform concepts and proposals will gel into legislation. Then the real work of lawmaking begins. In this process, everyone is a "special interest" because health care, like no other subject or sector, touches all. The numbers are large, the details innumerable and the political viewpoints wide and varied.
Like the convictions of America's founders, the nation's hospitals will never waver from ours, that coverage for all is the number one goal of health care reform and that all must share this responsibility. But if reform leaves our health infrastructure seriously weakened or destabilized, it is no one's victory. To bring coverage to millions and then usher them into a system unable to meet their needs will be everyone's loss. The roots of our nation's hospitals run deep into our communities and the AHA believes, as you do, that reform must hold out the promise of better health and health care for all.
Thank you for your support. Have a safe and peaceful Independence Day as you reflect on our shared pride in America.
Thanks,
Rich Umbdenstock
AHA President and CEO
NHA comments on PPS proposed rule
LINCOLN—The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) yesterday submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) proposed rule for fiscal year (FY) 2010.
While the NHA is supportive of portions of the proposed rule, there are concerns regarding several provisions including the calculation of the coding adjustment (behavioral offset), the elimination of the Indirect Medical Education (IME) adjustment, the calculation of the outlier threshold and the payment cut for critical access hospitals (CAHs) that elect the “Optional Method” (or Method 2).
The NHA is also concerned that CMS has not made a positive budget-neutrality adjustment to reverse the FY 1999 through FY 2006 standardized amount budget-neutrality adjustments for the rural floor. While CMS has proposed a market basket update of 2.1 percent for FY 2010, the update actually received by Nebraska hospitals would be severely reduced by all of the other proposed provisions.
The estimated overall impact of the proposed rule on Nebraska hospitals is an increase in payments of only $678 thousand from FY 2009 to FY 2010 for the entire state (0.1 percent change). For 2007, Nebraska’s PPS hospitals had a negative 21.0 percent margin related to providing inpatient services to Medicare patients. Further cuts would continue to deplete scarce resources and make hospitals’ mission of caring for patients even more challenging.
Medicare plans to cut specialists' payments
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has announced that it plans to cut Medicare payments for imaging services and specialists, and will use the savings to increase payments to physicians providing primary care. Under the proposal, Medicare would put specialists' payments for evaluating and managing illnesses on par with those of primary-care physicians starting in January. That, combined with other changes, would boost payments to internists, family physicians, general practitioners and geriatric specialists by 6 percent to 8 percent next year, said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services representatives. Read more.
— Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2009
New poll: Majority supports government-run health option Click here to read this article and more.
Nebraskans named to key USDA positions Click here to read this article and more.
