Discussion Forum

From: Home Care Magazine

WASHINGTON—A radical Republican plan that would slice $6 trillion off federal spending over the next decade got a thumbs up on Friday—but only by House Republicans. Every Democrat voted “no.”

By a vote of 235-193, the Republican-run House managed to push the $3.5 trillion, 2012 blueprint for government spending from Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., onto the Senate floor, though by some accounts there it is DOA.

The Democrat-run Senate is expected instead to go along with President Obama’s 2012 budget and companion cost-cutting measures, which, announced last week, would generate $340 billion in savings by 2021 and at least … Continue Reading

From: Home Care Magazine

LAS VEGAS—“Life was pretty good on Dec. 21, 2010,” said John Geller, vice president of 61-year-old Medical Service Co. in Cleveland. “I put my head down on the pillow that evening and when I woke up on Jan. 1, no question it was a new day.”

Geller, whose company was awarded multiple contracts in three competitive bidding areas in the Round 1 rebid, said management thought it was prepared for the start of the program. But he called what it has encountered since the bid’s Jan. 1 implementation the “triple witching hour,” citing a 33.5 percent … Continue Reading

From: Inside Health Reform

A top Congressional Budget Office official said the Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment is seriously flawed, and although CMS has privately set up the first round bid in a way that makes it appear the program works, the agency is setting a precedent that will make it impossible to find the competitive market price for products in the future, which will lead to the program failing. CMS Medicare chief Jonathan Blum countered that effort is a reasonable success, but also said the agency is in “listening mode” for potential changes and will discuss … Continue Reading