A Democratic proposal to replace the sweeping automatic spending cuts known as the sequester appears unlikely to pass the Senate, leading lawmakers and political observers to predict the $85 billion in cuts will take effect as scheduled on March 1.
February 13, 2013
Democrats in the Senate could introduce a bill this week to replace the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester, which is scheduled to take effect March 1. Many long-term care stakeholders have opposed the 2% Medicare cuts that are part of the $85 billion sequestration package.
February 08, 2013
Marilyn Tavenner, the acting administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has been renominated by President Barack Obama to permanently fill the position.
January 02, 2013
Should a person be congratulated and backslapped for simply doing his or her job? That's the question that should be on people's minds today as they ponder what has happened with fiscal cliff negotiations.
November 16, 2012
As $6 billion investments go, the 2012 presidential and Congressional races didn't deliver much of a return. Except, of course, for people who like to spend money in order to keep things the way they are.
August 01, 2012
A multimillion dollar Medicare fraud-fighting command center unveiled by the federal government a week ago is already drawing fire from two Republican lawmakers.
Two bills that would have cut taxes for small business died in the Senate Thursday.
April 26, 2012
Federal officials testified Tuesday at a Senate hearing that they have made significant strides in cracking down on healthcare fraud and abuse, though at least one prominent Republican said that not enough has been done.
April 20, 2012
Small nursing home operators stand to benefit from a 20% tax cut for small businesses that passed the House Thursday.
House Republicans plan to tie the repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board to medical malpractice legislation when Congress resumes next week.
February 17, 2012
A bill that contains legislation cancelling a scheduled Medicare reimbursement cut to physicians has passed the House and Senate.
Providers will be among the interested stakeholders watching closely for signs whether the Senate will follow the House's lead and vote to repeal the CLASS Act. Many observers believe the Democrat-led Senate will not, but there has been at least a minor shift in momentum for it recently. Various news reports have detailed what it could mean to have the dormant measure still on the books, and fiscal conservatives don't like it. Meanwhile, proponents of the first-ever government long-term care benefit continue to press their opponents with the question: If not CLASS, then what?
December 23, 2011
The House and Senate voted Friday morning to pass a two-month extension of the so-called "doc fix," preventing a scheduled 27.4% cut in Medicare payments for physicians.
Long-term care providers and other caregivers — as well as significant other groups of people around the country — will be anxiously watching to see if the Senate and the House can get together on compromise funding legislation before the end of the year. At risk with the dawning of 2012 will be major funding cutbacks to Medicare doctors, expiration of the Medicare therapy exceptions process, among other items. An impasse was created after the Senate overwhelmingly passed a package that included a two-month extension to payroll tax cuts last weekend, but then the Republican-led House voted down the same measure. Millions of people will be affected one way or another.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has instructed claims contractors to withhold physician payment claims for the first 10 days of 2012, citing Congress' inability to address the "doc fix."
December 19, 2011
Provider groups were anxiously awaiting a vote that is expected to be held Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives. The balloting could determine the short-term fate of Medicare spending for the "doc fix" and an extension to the therapy caps exception process.
December 01, 2011
The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to repeal the CLASS Act on Wednesday, making a full House vote possible by the end of the year. Meanwhile, providers in favor of the law have intensified efforts to ensure the Senate doesn't follow the House's lead.
More than 400 organizations and companies have sent letters to House and Senate leaders asking for the repeal of a 2.3% medical device excise tax. The tax is scheduled to begin in 2013. If enacted, it would cost vendors more than $2.7 billion each year, letters warn.
A bipartisan group of House and Senate members have proposed legislation that would ensure that seniors have access to skilled nursing care after being hospitalized for observation.
Embattled Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick received a shot of support recently from a number of high-profile colleagues in the medical field, according to news sources.
March 15, 2011
Assisted living should be subject to more government oversight and regulation, at least one consumer group is expected to recommend this afternoon at a Senate Special Committee on Aging roundtable.
March 10, 2011
We might have just been subjected to the biggest dose of chutzpah seen in a long, long while. It smacked of the old image of the leering used-car salesman (sorry, used car sales people) rubbing his thumb and forefinger together to imply he could save YOU money.
March 07, 2011
The saga of Donald Berwick as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services took an interesting, if not sadly predictable, turn last week. Opponents of his patron, President Obama, called for Berwick to be pulled from consideration for renomination.
December 01, 2010
The Senate failed to muster the votes Monday to repeal an unpopular tax reporting mandate that was passed to help finance the healthcare reform law.
The U.S. Senate could be just two days away from passing a massive healthcare reform package, based on reports out of the nation's capital that the Democrats have attained a 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority.
Now that House Democrats, the dominant party in that chamber, have issued their proposal for healthcare reform, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office will put a price tag on it. The full House then could vote on the measure by the end of next week.
The next heavy shoe in the nationwide healthcare reform debate is about to drop on Tuesday. That's when the Senate Finance Committee has decided to vote on what will likely become that chamber's model for reconciliation with a House version.
September 24, 2009
After two days and more than 560 proposed amendments, adjustments to the Senate Finance Committee healthcare proposal are still a long way from being completed, but long-term care providers have found at least a few plums among them.
