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Obamacare is now law but with asterisks. The states do not have to do exchanges nor the Medicaid portion. Iowa, Florida, possibly Mississippi, New Hampshire and Ohio are still mulling the Medicaid portion over. Several states will not do the exchanges and make the feds do them with all their inabilities.
Texas, with the largest uninsured population in the country, has opted out of Obamacare for the exchanges and the Medicaid.
Sebelius has asked the nation's governors to spend their state's resources on the Medicaid portion of Obamacare. The states governed by Democrats may do so but it is doubtful that many Republican led states will follow.
For the 33rd time the US House has passed a resolution to repeal Obamacare. Again, it will never see any life in the Senate. This time five Democrats joined all the Republicans to vote in favor of the bill.
CMS has issued new proposed rules. The first is an increase in payments for outpatient services, including ASCs. the second is increased payments for physicians by 7% of you are a family physician and less if you are another type of primary care physician. There will also be a new # and payment for physicians who oversee the patients for the first 30 days out of the hospital or nursing home. Home Health will get a small decrease in payments and Hospice will get new quality measures.
The Feds have announced 89 more ACOs. I can't wait until these physicians find out that the patients can leave the ACO any time they want for any treatments and the ACO is still responsible for the quality of care. Top
California has denied Blue Shield the right to close some of it's policies to new clients. The rationale for closing the policies is to allow the individuals to age and therefore increase the premiums. The State says this is dirty pool. Top
The People's Republic of Massachusetts has seen the error of their ways. Several years a go the Republic put a kibosh on any gifts or food to physicians to hear their spiel on new drugs. This created a problem as the drug companies boycotted the republic for their conventions. Now the governor will sign into law a new regulation allowing the drug companies to feed physicians when they listen to the spiel. Some medical students are against the reg. They do not have to go if they don't want to. It is called choice, something that the people of the Republic are not used to.
Florida has fined the physician in charge of the infamous 1-800-GET-THIN campaign $1000 and an additional $2000 for their investigative costs. Dr. Omindi is also on probation in California for performing surgery in non-accredited surgical centers. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this
article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.