Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Health reform not only changes the health care market for the demand side (e.g., patients, insurers), but also for the supply side (e.g., hospitals, physicians). In the Medicare setting, a number of initiatives have aimed to pay providers who provide high-quality or low-cost care more money, and pay providers who provide low-quality or high-cost care…
Most people think that medical services typically provided in a physician’s office of a hospital. However, medical services can be provided in a variety of settings. Medicare categorizes providers according to a place of service variable. The place of service include the following settings: Pharmacy; School; Homeless Shelter; Indian Health Service Free-standing Facility; Indian Health…
In short, the answer is no. The CBO released an issue brief examining two types of demonstrations. Disease management and care coordination demonstrations have sought to improve the quality of care of beneficiaries with chronic illnesses and those whose health care is expected to be particularly costly. Value-based payment demonstrations have given health care providers…
In my opinion the answer is yes. A book by Coulam, Feldman and Dowd also would agree with me. Recently, Medicare began a competitive bidding process for durable medical equipment. Is it working? According to the Wall Street Journal, the answer is no. “Normally when the government wants to buy something, it asks companies how…
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is responsible for answering just that question. To determine what level Section 8 vouchers should be set, HUD measures the rents for every county across the nation. Specifically, they measure the 40th percentile and 50th percentile (i.e., median) rents in each area. They choose to use the…
One of the goals of Medicare is to provide its beneficiaries access to quality care regardless of where they live. Thus, the Medicare program provides financial incentives to providers located in these remote areas. Whereas most Medicare pays most hospitals through the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS), it pays certain rural hospitals based on their…
In 2015, Medicare will begin implementing a value-based purchasing (VPB) program for physicians. Initially the program will target only certain physicians and groups of physicians, but by 2017 all physicians is participate in this program. The VBP program will evaluate physicians along two broad dimensions: quality and cost. In the final rule: Section 1848(p) of…
Being a doctor is difficult. You need to graduate from medical school and learn a ton of difficult scientific concepts. You need to stay up to date on the latest medical developments. You need to cater to sick, needy patients (and their family). Any you need to get paid. Earning a living is not as…
Kaiser Health News reports: The House GOP leadership’s agreement to a Senate proposal averts a 27 percent paycut to doctors scheduled to take effect in January. The deal delays the cut until March 1, and lawmakers hope to hammer out an agreement on a longer-term fix to the payment formula before then. As I previously noted,…
The Healthcare Economist is going on vacation for the next week. In the meantime, I pose to you, my reader, a bet. Do you think the ‘doc fix’ gets passed? Before you read on, make your predictions in the comments section below. Healthcare Economist’s Prediction