Organization

Senate Finance Committee


37 senators call for flexibility in meeting meaningful use criteria

Industry News | Monday, April 05 2010
Thirty-seven U.S. Senators, led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, wrote a letter requesting improvements in a proposed rule for distributing stimulus funds for health IT published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to increase flexibility and encourage participation among providers.
 

Survey: Providers look to health IT to mitigate reimbursement cuts

Industry News | Tuesday, November 17 2009
A recent poll of healthcare providers by consulting firm IVANS indicated that they plan to make better use of health IT in an effort to curtail potential cutbacks from Medicare funding.
 

House delivers healthcare reform victory in late-night session

Top Stories | Monday, November 09 2009
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives managed to squeak out a healthcare reform victory (220-215) late Saturday evening, after ratifying the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that will prohibit abortion funding for both the public option and affordability credits.
 

House unveils final version of healthcare reform bill

Top Stories | Friday, October 30 2009
Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 30 unveiled a revised healthcare reform proposal—H.R. 3692, the Affordable Health Care for America Act—which the Congressional Budget Office estimated carries an $894 billion price tag for the federal government.
 

Grassley probes 10 health IT companies about software

Top Stories | Wednesday, October 28 2009
Ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, has sent a letter to 10 health IT companies requesting consumer complaint information about their health IT products.
 

Senate Finance Committee passes healthcare reform bill—with Snowe’s help

Top Stories | Tuesday, October 13 2009
The Senate Finance Committee voted today in favor of its version of proposed healthcare reform legislation in a 14-9 vote, including the approval of Olympia Snowe, R.-Me.
 

Industry lobbying for med device tax change

Top Stories | Monday, October 05 2009
Tax
The medical devices industry is lobbying heavily to reduce a projected $4 billion annual tax on medical device makers included in the Senate Finance Committee healthcare reform bill, according to media reports.
 

Report: Recession drives steep hike in Medicaid enrollment

Top Stories | Friday, October 02 2009
The recession has put more people on Medicaid and sharply increased state spending on the program, forcing state officials to cut costs even with help coming from the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
 

Senate Finance Committee unveils its version of healthcare reform

Top Stories | Wednesday, September 16 2009
The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., issued its long-awaited America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 on Wednesday, which would cost $856 billion over 10 years, and is scheduled to begin committee action on Sept. 22.
 

House panel curbs comparative-effectiveness research

Top Stories | Monday, August 03 2009
The healthcare reform bill approved last week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee contained an amendment prohibiting the federal government from using comparative-effectiveness research to “deny or ration care.”
 

Baucus, Conrad introduce bill to fund comparative effectiveness institute

Industry News | Thursday, June 11 2009
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., introduced legislation to establish a private, nonprofit corporation that will research and compare clinical outcomes of alternative therapies and health strategies.
 

Senate begins healthcare reform roll out

Top Stories | Thursday, June 11 2009
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, led by Chairman Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., introduced legislation this week advocating for more government involvement in healthcare coverage. The bill is certain to launch a drawn-out debate over the current delivery direction of healthcare in the United States when it is introduced on the Senate floor in July.
 

Baucus: Healthcare reform roundtables are legislation cornerstore

Top Stories | Tuesday, May 05 2009
An average of 14,000 Americans lose health coverage each day, healthcare insurance premiums grow more than three times faster than wages and physician reimbursement has declined by more than 20 percent in the past eight years. Couple these sad statistics with a demographic shift that will see an ever increasing number of U.S. citizens eligible for, and needing services from, Medicare and it becomes clear that present healthcare delivery policies are quickly becoming fiscally unsustainable.
 

AMIC responds to Senate proposals for new imaging policies

Top Stories | Friday, May 01 2009
Imaging provisions contained in the Senate Finance Committee's proposals for healthcare delivery reform are "forward-thinking" policies that will ensure proper diagnostic imaging utilization over the long term, according to the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC).
 

Senate roundtable discusses reducing imaging reimbursement

Top Stories | Friday, April 24 2009
In the first of three roundtables on healthcare delivery system reform held by the Senate Finance Committee, participants this week discussed increasing primary care physician payments by reducing payments to imaging services providers.
 

House passes SCHIP expansion; Senate to act soon

Top Stories | Friday, January 16 2009
 
The House of Representatives this week voted 289-139 to approve a bill renewing and expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to about four million additional children in the United States.
 

Baucus issues U.S. healthcare reform plan; eyes coverage, self-referral, SGR

Top Stories | Friday, November 14 2008
 
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., released a “Call to Action” plan on Wednesday, detailing his vision for health reform in the 111th Congress, which highlights access to care, unsustainable costs and a lack of quality assurances that currently plague the U.S. healthcare system. 
 

Congressional committee demands HHS to rescind new SCHIP actions

Regulatory News | Sunday, January 20 2008
In a letter to Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt, congressional committee representatives from the House and Senate called on the agency to immediately rescind the December 2007 income eligibility caps on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that denied Ohio's request to extend health coverage to more children.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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