Wednesday Barack Obama appointed Dr. Donald Berwick as the Administrator to the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services using a recess appointment. Dr. Berwick is a Harvard professor and a patient care specialist. He would be able to serve in his role though next year without Senate approval. Currently there are no hearings scheduled...
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Obama Appoints New CMS Chief Without Senate Approval
VIVA Health, Inc. Selects Dynamic Healthcare Systems Suite
Dynamic Healthcare Systems, a provider of enterprise technology solutions for Medicare-focused health plans, today announced that VIVA Health, Inc., a managed care company with over 32,000 Medicare Advantage members, purchased the Voyager suite including the following modules: Sales/Marketing, Enrollment, Reconciliation, HCC Analytics, RAPS Management and Premium Billing. Dynamic Healthcare Systems is designed to...
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2.2 Percent Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Update Through Nov 30, 2010
On June 25, 2010, President Obama signed into law the “Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010.” This law establishes a 2.2 percent update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) payment rates retroactive from June 1 through November 30, 2010. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
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Bush Says He Opposes Extending Deadline for Medicare Enrollment
Bloomberg is reporting, President George W. Bush said he opposes extending the deadline to sign up for a new Medicare prescription drug benefit even though some of the people who are eligible may be confused about the program.
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U.S. healthcare spending rose 7.4% last year
U.S. healthcare spending grew 7.4% in 2005 to surpass $2 trillion and is expected to grow 7.3% in 2006, the CMS said in an annual report. Thats down from a recent peak of 9.1% growth in 2002. The increase in spending on hospital services, 7.9%, outpaced overall healthcare spending growth for the second year...
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The President’s Modest Medicare Proposal
Dr. Moffit of the Heritage Foundation has done a great job outlining the changes proposed in President Bush’s 2007 budget. Here are some of the highlights Proposed a modest $36 billion reduction in the growth of the Medicare budget over 5 years. Medicare spending is projected to be $395 billing in 2007 and grow...
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The WSJ Examines Increased Cost of Entitlement Programs
The Wall Street Journal on Friday examined how the “significance” the fiscal year 2007 budget proposal that Bush plans to announce on Monday is “dwarfed by one daunting fact”: 84% of the federal budget is “essentially committed” to interest on the federal deficit, defense and homeland security and entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid...
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Medicare Advantage Plans Earning Season – Humana
Humana (NYSE: HUM), the 6th largest U.S. insurer by market capitalization, announced today 4th quarter profits rose 34% on the strength of its Medicare Advantage plans, however shares fell after the company did not raise its 2006 outlook and missed revenue expectations. In the 4th quarter enrollment in Humana’s Medicare Advantage plans rose 48%...
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WSJ article on Part D Enrollment
In this article The Wall Street Journal outlines the aggressive land grab going on right now in the Medicare marketplace as plans use Part D enrollment to capture new applicants and then attempt to migrate them to a full Medicare Advantage program. Also, the article discusses AARP’s influence on the senior population and the success some...
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Can 2007 Institutionalized SNPs Survive?
Can 2007 Institutionalized SNPs Survive? 2006 Is the Year of the Medi-Medi SNP in the hopes of plans capturing as mant auto-assigned Part D enrollees at a low acquisition cost and then sign them up in to their duel-eligiable SNP. 2007 is the year of the institutionalized and chronic condition SNP…however will changes in...
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