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Barack Obama


Obama appoints Berwick during congressional recess

Top Stories | Wednesday, July 07 2010
During the current congressional recess, President Barack Obama appointed Donald Berwick, MD, current president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, to fill the role of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator.
 

White House issues nearly $800M for broadband, telemed projects

Top Stories | Tuesday, July 06 2010
The Obama Administration released new government investments July 2 for 66 broadband deployment projects, worth $795 million, to expand access to broadband connections and telemedicine in rural and underserved regions.
 

CMS proposes an additional 6.1% cut in Medicare payments

Top Stories | Sunday, June 27 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a proposed rule that would implement provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 that reduce preventive services for Medicare beneficiaries by 6.1 percent on or after Jan. 1, 2011. This reduction would be added to a projected 23.5 percent cut that is scheduled to take effect Dec. 1, unless Congress acts to change the current sustainable growth rate formula.
 

SGR ‘fixed’ for another six months

Top Stories | Friday, June 25 2010
After an all-night session, the House of Representatives on June 24 passed legislation, H.R. 3962, which will "fix" the sustainable growth rate formula for the next six months, and President Barack Obama signed it into law on June 25. Retroactive to services delivered on or after June 1, the Medicare Conversion Factor will be raised by 2.2 percent.
 

Report: U.S. ranks poorly for healthcare performance

Industry News | Wednesday, June 23 2010
Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the U.S. consistently lags on most dimensions of performance relative to other countries, according to new research from the Commonwealth Fund. Compared with Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the U.K., the U.S. ranks last overall.
 

AGs power through DoJ's motion to dismiss reform lawsuit

Top Stories | Monday, June 21 2010
The federal government's lawsuit over the new healthcare reform bill evolved into a war of words last week when the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed its motion to dismiss the constitutional challenges against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act brought by 20 states, the National Federation of Independent Business and individuals affected by the mandate to adopt healthcare insurance.
 

Senate attempts another SGR fix; 21% cut is now in effect

Top Stories | Monday, June 21 2010
The Senate passed a bill June 18 to block the 21 percent cut to fix to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for six months, after failing to pass larger tax extender legislation that also included the Medicare provision.
 

As Friday's deadline looms, Congress has yet to pass SGR payment fix

Top Stories | Wednesday, June 16 2010
The Continuing Extension Act of 2010, enacted April 15, extended the zero percent update to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule through May 31. Now, Congress is still debating the elimination of the negative update that took effect June 1; however, in hopes of legislation passing, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is holding claims through June 17.
 

HIMSS: U.S. CTO Chopra seeks private-public healthcare innovation

Conference News | Wednesday, June 09 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
Despite the innovations and the possibilities within healthcare reform, there is a culture gap within health IT today between consumers and the U.S. government, said Secretary Aneesh Chopra, U.S. chief technology officer (CTO) and associate director for technology within the Office of Science & Technology Policy, during his keynote address at the Health Information and Management Systems Society’s (HIMSS) annual Virtual Conference and Expo this week.
 

Health Affairs: Healthcare reform package strikes a balance in price/scope

Industry News | Wednesday, June 09 2010
The only alternatives to the federal healthcare reform that would have covered more Americans at a lower cost to the federal government were politically untenable, and would have included substantially higher penalties for those who don't comply with mandates, lower government subsidies and less-generous Medicaid expansion, according to research published in the June edition of Health Affairs.
 

ACR to Congress: Pass CT colonography bill for CMS coverage

Top Stories | Wednesday, June 02 2010
The American College of Radiology (ACR) is urging Congress to pass the Virtual Screening for Colorectal Cancer Act of 2010 (H.R. 5461) which would require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide coverage of screening CT colonography, or virtual colonoscopy, to Medicare beneficiaries.
 

Obama Administration attempts to dismiss Virginia's reform suit

Top Stories | Wednesday, May 26 2010
Federal attorneys, acting on behalf of Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, filed a 39-page brief in the U.S. District Court of Richmond in Virginia this week, in an attempt to dismiss Virginia’s lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s healthcare reform law.
 

Obama Administration releases new National Drug Control Strategy

Industry News | Friday, May 14 2010
President Obama released the Administration's inaugural National Drug Control Strategy, which establishes five-year goals for reducing drug use and its consequences through a balanced policy of prevention, treatment, enforcement and international cooperation.
 

Reform to increase healthcare spending about $311B

Top Stories | Friday, April 23 2010
President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plan is estimated to increase the overall national health expenditures under the healthcare reform act by a total of $311 billion over the next decade, according to a report last week from Richard Foster, chief actuary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
 

Survey: Healthcare execs pessimistic about healthcare reform bill

Industry News | Friday, April 23 2010
In reaction to the healthcare reform bill passed by President Barack Obama, an initial response survey from healthcare staffing company AMN Healthcare suggests that the majority of healthcare executives are pessimistic about the reform’s effects on their facilities and believe healthcare reform will create more patient demand for services, creating a need for more clinicians.
 

HealthAffairs: With one year down, ARRA has a lot on the line

Industry News | Monday, April 05 2010
Now that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is one year old, it’s time to ask if the federal government has gotten IT right, according to an editorial in the April issue of HealthAffairs.
 

White House reportedly to nominate Harvard prof as CMS chief

Top Stories | Sunday, March 28 2010
President Barack Obama will reportedly nominate Donald M. Berwick, MD, as the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), according to a variety of media sources.
 

Healthcare reform: HFMA's budgetary breakdown of both bills

Top Stories | Thursday, March 25 2010
The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) has issued a monetary breakdown between each piece of the healthcare reform legislation—the version originally proposed by the Senate and the House Reconciliation Act--and while the differences between the bills are modest, the Reconciliation Act price tag is $70 billion more expensive.
 

14 state AGs file suit opposing healthcare reform bill

Top Stories | Wednesday, March 24 2010
Thirteen state attorneys general (AG) have jointly filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the healthcare reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama March 23 is unconstitutional. The Virginia AG has filed a separate lawsuit, due to specific state laws related to health insurance coverage.
 

House passes Senate reform bill, Reconciliation Act to mixed reactions

Top Stories | Monday, March 22 2010
The House of Representatives Sunday approved the Senate version of healthcare reform legislation by a vote of 219-212. Later in the evening, the House cleared its package of amendments, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, by a vote of 220-211. The reconciliation bill will now go to the Senate, where Democrats need 51 votes to send it to President Barack Obama to sign into law.
 
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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