The House did join the Senate today in passing a continuing resolution funding the federal government until November 18, 2011, according to the Federal Times. That article notes that
It is doubtful that Congress will pass all 12 annual appropriations
bills before the CR expires Nov. 18, said Thad Juszczak, a former
federal budget officer now at consulting firm Grant Thornton. Bills
covering the Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs department
could win congressional approval by Nov. 18, Juszczak said, but he is
more pessimistic about prospects for the others.
Another
complication is that a House-Senate supercommittee is supposed to turn
in its plan for up to $1.5 trillion in long-term deficit reduction by
Nov. 23.
Govexec.com reports on an intiative to switch the annual federal budget process to a two year cycle. “In the Senate, Republican Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Democrat Jeanne
Shaheen of New Hampshire have introduced legislation that would move
Congress to a two-year budget cycle. Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., is
sponsoring a similar bill in the House.”
The Federal Times also reports on new perks that certain FEHB plans will offer their enrollees in 2012.
Business Insurance reports on the Kaiser Family Foundation, Aon Hewitt, and Consumer Reports studies on rising health care costs. What’s the expert upshot?
“It means prices for health care are up,” said Helen Darling,
president of the National Business Group on Health, a Washington-based
consortium of the nation’s largest employers. “Doctors and hospitals
have been raising their prices steadily.”
“Prescription drug
trends have moderated over recent years because of the shift to generics
and some blockbuster drugs coming off patent,” said Gary Stanford, a
Dallas-based principal and actuary at Aon Hewitt, and one of the
survey’s authors. “Those things are helping control that piece of the
cost equation. But on the hospital and physician side, we’re still
seeing significant price increases.” Mr. Stanford attributed hospital and doctor price increases to impending
reductions in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, an effort to
balance the federal budget. “We see some evidence of price increases in
anticipation of what may be coming down the road,” he said.
CMS has proposed regulatory changes to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D for 2013. The proposed changes include
Fight Fraud and Streamline Claims Filing: Require Part D sponsors
submitting prescription drug event (PDE) records to include
prescribers’ National Provider Identifiers (NPIs). Also, the proposed
rule would require pharmacy benefit managers under Part D to report
additional financial information to increase transparency. These
changes would improve data collection and tracking, help better identify
the prescriber of Part D medications, and assist our law enforcement
partners in the conduct of investigations when there is suspected fraud
associated with a prescription drug claim.
The AMA News reports on the recently proposed HHS rule that would require clinical laboratories to provide test results to patients. The article notes that Quest Labs have a policy of providing test results to patients when state law permits. (This rule would override state laws if implemented.) The article explains that
Quest first sends test results to physicians. Only after 48 hours are
they sent to patients. The company does not send patients test results
that are related to HIV, genetics or show a pathological diagnosis of
cancer.
The company’s approach to sharing test results with patients may not
be reflected in the new federal regulations. As written, the proposal
does not specify a waiting period before sending test results to
patients and does not declare that any kinds of tests or particular
findings should go through a physician.
The FEHBlog thinks that the Quest approach is sensible.