Washington Representatives threaten no vote on healthcare reform until Medicare reimbursement inequities addressed
Read the letter from Washington State Representatives Rick Larsen, Norm Dicks, Brian Baird, Adam Smith, and several more from around the country here: Click Here to download the letter.
In the above letter to the House leadership, several Washington State representatives and others from around the country suggest they will not vote for a healthcare reform package unless Medicare reimbursements inequities are addressed.
Physicians’ groups have been pushing to correct inequities in reimbursement rates in numerous government healthcare programs, and the MediFair Act, sponsored by Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, is an attempt at reaching that goal.
Due to lower reimbursement rates many Washington State physicians have struggled financially to provide healthcare for the Medicare patients they have or to accept new Medicare lives into their care.
With additional resources, Washington physicians can reinvest in patient care. This includes funding chronic care registries and health record banking that would have pronounced beneficial effects on healthcare delivery.
Washington physicians would receive about $1200 more per beneficiary if Washington State Medicare reimbursement rates were increased to the national average. Statewide, it represents an increase of over $1 billion.
Proponents of balancing the Medicare reimbursement rates suggest the current system is not the most effective path toward providing the highest quality patient care for patients in Washington State.
Posted by Randy at 1:09 PM 1 comment Links to this post
[...] Nations’ eyes look to Senate Finance Committee for healthcare reform bill At present, the fate of healthcare reform appears to be in the hands of Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and the Senate Finance Committee. Senators appear to be closer to coming out with a new version of a health reform package. Read more on this from The Washington-Post. Many representatives in Washington, D.C. recognize that simply adding 45 million people to Medicare without changing delivery systems and realigning incentives will just bankrupt the system faster. Some are beginning to recognize successes in capitated Medicare Advantage plans, but there is a lot of push back from hospitals on that point. The House bill all but guts Medicare Advantage. There is also discussion about leveling Medicare reimbursement rates nationally, which currently vary state by state and tend to reward states with higher costs and worse outcomes. Again though, there is push back from the states with inefficient care that get more money. There aren’t many representatives out there who would be willing to vote for a proposal that reduces funds their state would receive. Read more about this development here. [...]