Health Roundup: Obama to Add GOP Ideas, Medicare Cuts Avoided
Lots of health headlines this morning, most surrounding the Democratic overhaul efforts. Meanwhile, the Senate figured out a way to avoid crimping Medicare payments to doctors.
President Obama kicked things off yesterday by saying he was open to a few cost-saving ideas that Republicans highlighted at last week’s bipartisan health summit. In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama proposed adding four GOP-backed items to the health-care mix that House and Senate Dems now are expected to put to votes later this month.
Republicans weren’t mollified by the presidential gesture, saying adopting a few of their ideas wasn’t enough to rectify the nearly $1 trillion overhaul package. Obama is slated to speak more about the latest health-care push in remarks at the White House today. For more, see here, here and here.
The measures listed by the president would included beefing up fraud prevention and expanding Health Savings Accounts. Two other ideas he wants to pursue should warm the hearts of many doctors: finding alternatives for settling malpractice suits and boosting Medicaid reimbursements for doctors, especially since the overhaul will be adding Medicaid benefits for more recipients that will need doctors.
Docs participating in the Medicare program also got good news yesterday […]
Read more this great post here
