Health Care News

Republicans Sound Alarm On Medicare.

The National Journal  (4/18, McCarthy, Subscription Publication) reports, “Congressional Republicans are sounding a warning on Medicare, saying that the program would be left without a clear way to pay doctors and hospitals if it runs out of money.” The report, which comes from “Republican Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John Barrasso of Wyoming, and from Republican Reps. Phil Gingrey of Georgia and Phil Roe of Tennessee,” is intended “to drum up concern over the mammoth federal health program for the elderly.” The Republicans “cite a 2011 Congressional Research Service report examining what would happen if Medicare ran out of money” and cautioning that “are no provisions in the Social Security Act that govern what would happen if that [insolvency] were to occur.”

Hospitals Protesting Proposed Rules On Medicare Overpayments.

Modern Healthcare  (4/18, Carlson, Subscription Publication) reports, “Hospitals are strongly protesting proposed federal regulations that could create liabilities going back 10 years when healthcare providers ‘knowingly’ retain Medicare overpayments for longer than 60 days.” Modern Healthcare adds, “In comment letters to the CMS, the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals criticized the agency’s proposed rules implementing Section 6402(a) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” These “groups argue that the rules distort the intent of the repayment rule though punitive enforcement and an unreasonable 10-year retrospective look-back period.”