House Republican Laments Timing Behind Release Of CMS Report

A report authored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) showing that healthcare costs will increase under a newly passed reform law should have been released before the law was passed, said Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) during a phone interview with Talk Radio News Service on Wednesday.

"I think it's a shame that the report was released after the vote; clearly it was important," Cassidy said. "It was, if you will, a damning indictment [of the legislation]."

The 38-page analysis conducted by the chief actuary at CMS, Rick Foster, concludes that healthcare spending will represent 21% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2019. According to the report, that figure equals a 0.2% increase -- or $311 billion -- over the level that would be reached without reform in place.

During the nearly year-long debate over the legislation, the President frequently assured the public that his plan would bend the nation's healthcare cost curve down. But now, said Cassidy, Americans may start to lose faith in the administration's ability to be forthright.

"[The administration's] central premise was that they were going to lower costs," he said. "Now, integrity and faith in government are key things, trust in government is a key thing. If we're not gonna be able to trust them on this...what does that mean about other big policy decisions?"

Click here to listen to more of the Congressman's interview.

Doctors For America Rejoice Following Passage Of Health Care Reform

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Advocacy group Doctors For America expressed their excitement Monday over the passage of sweeping health care reform legislation the previous day. The doctors joined together from across the country in D.C. for a march and rally to congratulate the Senate and House for their work on health care reform.

“This legislation will go further and do more to fix the problems of the health care delivery system in my state then anything that I have seen proposed in the 27 years I’ve been here in the Senate,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) during a news conference for the association. “This is a great day for our country.”

The doctors, who wore patient identification bands to help associate themselves with their patients that are struggling with the cost of health care, will continue to urge the Senate to pass the reconciliation, which Bingaman says will be passed this week.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) warned that many new programs will have kinks in the beginning, but that health care reform is a monumental achievement for the nation.

“What you are seeing happen here is the beginning of an enormous change, it is not a change that is all done,’ said McDermott “We have to keep coming back and working on it just like we did with Medicare.”

The new reform should be treated like Medicare, according to McDermott, which has been amended every year since its enactment in 1965. One of the amendments that McDermott and Doctors For America pressed hope to create is a program to help future doctors, dentists and nurses with the ever rising cost of school for those fields.

“This bill tells all Americans who are suffering with chronic conditions, whose insurance companies set a lifetime or annual cap on their benefits, that those days are over this year,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL.) said.

GOP Underminding Health Reform At All Costs, Says Hoyer

By Laurel Brishel Prichard
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday that Americans are more concerned with whether or not health reform passes than the means by which it is passed.

“We talk a lot about process in this town,” said Hoyer. “'So what?' says the American public. What they are interested in is what resulted. 'What did you do for me and my family to make my life more secure and greater quality?'”

Despite bipartisan efforts to prevent the legislation from passing, Hoyer said he's hopeful the bill will persevere. The Majority Leader disputed a popular claim that reform will deal a large blow to seniors on Medicare.

“The Republicans have been doing everything in their power to undermine the health care legislation,” he said.

According to Hoyer, Republicans are obstructing reform regardless of what is in the bill. “They continue to scare the public, some of which has worked, by saying this is a government takeover of health care. That is absolutely untrue.”

While a vote on the bill has not yet been announced, Hoyer assured that one will take place very soon.

For Democrats, Health Reform Isn't About Fixing The System, Says Gregg

By Chingyu Wang
Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said Thursday that, for Democrats, policy has taken a backseat to politics in the ongoing debate over health care reform.

"This dialogue right now is no longer about substance, it's no longer about the purposes, it's just about 'I need to win because I need to win, because I need to win,'" said Gregg. "They see a loss as being a loss of credibility, it's no longer about the policy or the effectiveness or really about health care."

By metaphorically referring to the nation as a defibrillator, Gregg said on Thursday that his biggest concern over healthcare reform is the $500 billion worth of cuts to Medicare Democrats are proposing, which in his view is significant to the economy.

Medicare's $38 trillion fund "is the power source for defibrillator when we have this fiscal cardiac arrest as a nation," said Gregg. "And if you use it up now to create new entitlements...you know we're going to aggravate the cardiac arrest. Then the defibrillator has no energy."

Gregg added, however, that Medicare spending should "absolutely" be adjusted to make it solvent.

On the possibility of Democrats using reconciliation to pass reform, Gregg labeled it as a tool by which the Democrats can "buy the votes to pass the big bill."

"Reconciliation, by its definition, [means] you have to change a law," said Gregg. "You can't reconcile a bill that is not passed."

"It was never created for the purposes of doing policy."

Health Care Caucus Calls On Congress To Fight Medicare Fraud

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

The Congressional Health Care Caucus (CHC) highlighted the consequences of Medicare fraud Tuesday and called on their colleagues to take actions that could possibly save billions of dollars for the social insurance program.

“[Medicare fraud] is very serious problem and one that requires serious attention ... to reclaim the scarce health care dollars that people are otherwise diverting from the system,” said Rep. Michael Burgress (R-Texas) during a news conference.

Jim Frogue, the Vice President for Center for Health Transformation, proposed fighting fraud through an identity check system, similar to the process that is used with credit card purchases. Such a measure would require individuals who are receiving Medicare-Medicaid benefits to have proper identification.

“People can get away with [fraud] for months and years and never get caught," said Frogue, who appeared alongside the CHC. "The mandate of Medicare-Medicaid is to pay the bills and ask questions later."

According to Frogue, anti-fraud measures already in place are inadequate. The Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCU) only focus on high profile cases, Frogue says, and essentially overlooks the smaller cases.

"I don’t know why I’m not retired in the Caribbean. Its so easy to steal this money and just move on,” joked Frogue.