MHA's Executive Briefing

CBO examines spending, revenue effects of budget options

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office examines the spending and revenue effects of budget options proposed by the administration and others, including their budget options for Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs.

Smith proposes tobacco tax increase to cover more kids

Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) on Feb. 27 proposed increasing the federal tobacco tax to fund an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to all children and pregnant women up to 300% of the poverty level.

“This year, funding expires and we have a challenge on our hands to come up with the needed funds to continue the program in its current form and expand coverage so more children receive help,” Smith said. “An increase in the tobacco tax brings us closer to achieving this goal.”

The senator said his priorities for SCHIP reauthorization include ensuring that all who are enrolled in the program continue to receive coverage, and covering those who are eligible for the program but are not enrolled.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Transforming U.S. hospitals

Battered by competition and regulation, hospitals need fast, dramatic treatment: leadership that thinks strategically, builds quality, and aligns doctors with the goals of hospitals. Hospitals can take lessons from a few pioneering hospitals that emphasize excellence by competing in carefully chosen service lines rather than trying to excel in all clinical services.

For the full story from The McKinsey Quarterly, click here.

Thinking Clearly about Complex Issues

Health care executives face an extraordinary challenge. The complexity of the field leaves many of them poorly prepared for the range of issues and responsibilities for which they are accountable. It is hard not to defer to the functional experts, who have specific clinical or technical training and experience. However, there are ways that management generalists can contribute productively even in such situations.

For the full story from H&HN Online, click here.

Kennedy, Hatch call for SCHIP reauthorization, increased enrollment

Speaking Feb. 27 at an Alliance for Health Reform event in Washington, Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program should be a “national priority.”

Kennedy called for Congress to allocate $50 billion over five years for the program. Hatch said reauthorization efforts must focus on ways to enroll the 2.8 million children who are eligible for SCHIP but not enrolled.

Cindy Mann, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, said that if all states brought their participation rates up to the 90%-92% levels achieved in Vermont and Arkansas, the number of uninsured children could be cut in half. Judith Wooldridge, senior vice president at Mathematica Policy Research, said crucial to increasing SCHIP enrollment are outreach, a simpler enrollment process, coordination with Medicaid enrollment, and collaboration between state and local officials.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Update to coverage of inpatient hospital therapeutic services

On February 16, CMS released an MLN Matters article relating to a January 26 transmittal on the Medicare coverage requirements applicable to physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology services, and respiratory therapy furnished to hospital inpatients.

According to Hugh Aaron, HCPro's senior vice president for compliance and regulatory affairs/regulatory counsel, hospitals should pay careful attention to this transmittal, because it highlights important differences between coverage of services furnished to inpatients and coverage of services furnished to outpatients.

View this MLN Matters article.
View the related CMS transmittal.

[ via Healthcare Audit Resource Center ]

Sen. Moffatt will seek re-election

State Sen. Tommy Moffatt has announced he plans to seek re-election later this year.

Moffatt, a Gautier resident and a Republican, said he is humbled that voters have elected him for three consecutive terms. In a news release, he said his record of "initiating and supporting" issues of importance to his constituents is well documented.

"With the experience he has gained and the relationships he has developed... he is well-positioned to continue his efforts to represent the citizens of District 52," the release said.

For the full story from The Sun Herald, click here.

Lott to run for Secretary of State post

Rep. Mike Lott, R-Petal, announced Feb. 24 his candidacy for Secretary of State, a position being vacated by Eric Clark. Lott has represented District 104, which includes parts of Forrest and Lamar counties, for eight years.

Democrats Shawn O'Hara and Jabari A. Toins, and Republican Jeffrey Rupp, have qualified as candidates for Secretary of State.

Candidates have until March 1 to qualify.

[ via Rachel Leifer, The Hattiesburg American ]

CMS extends hospital pay-for-performance demonstration

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has approved a three-year extension of the CMS/Premier Hospital Quality Alliance Demonstration, which will test new incentive models and ways to measure quality, Premier Inc. announced Feb. 22. The three-year-old project provides incentive payments to the top 20% of some 250 participating hospitals, based on quality measures for pneumonia, heart bypass, heart attack, heart failure, and hip and knee replacement care.

The extension will continue to track hospital performance in these clinical areas, with flexibility to add quality measures and clinical conditions in the fifth and sixth years, Premier said. In addition, the extension will test the effectiveness of incentive models for hospitals that achieve a defined level of quality or quality threshold, and for hospitals that achieve the quality threshold and the most improvement in quality.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Lawmakers starting healthcare study group

U.S. Reps. James P. McGovern (D-Mass.), Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) sent a "Dear Colleague” letter to encourage fellow House members to join a new bipartisan healthcare study group they’re co-chairing.

The caucus plans to hold regular educational briefings on Capitol Hill to inform members of Congress and their staffs about the work of public-health experts and the health-protection efforts they undertake. The concept for the study group emerged from a Capitol Hill staff field trip to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last August.

Staff members “were saying how depressing it was that the CDC was doing all this amazing stuff” that lawmakers weren’t aware of, said Karl Moeller, executive director of the Campaign for Public Health, a not-for-profit coalition that sponsored the field trip, and will be contributing ideas to the new study caucus.

A date hasn’t been set yet for the first hearing on chronic disease, although CDC Director Julie Gerberding has expressed an interest in attending, Moeller said. Senate members will also be invited to the briefings, although they won’t be able to join the study group because of different rules in the House and Senate on what constitutes a caucus, he added. Public-health experts from industry, local government and the not-for-profit sector will also be invited.

[ via Jennifer Lubell, Modern Healthcare's Daily Dose ]