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The GAO has reported that the roll out of Obamacare by October 1 is probably not going to be on time. They don't believe the exchanges nor the small business aspects can be ready by the due date. The GAO is also afraid since there has been no final testing of the systems that connect the state and federal arms. In all probability the program will open on time but there will be significant problems. These will correct over time.
Time magazine journalist Steven Brill, who wrote the piece Bitter Pill, testified before the Senate that Obamacare will do almost nothing to lower prices for consumers. He believes transparency is not an end but only a start. He went through hospital bills line by line and found the chargemaster prices had no reality to them.
Modern Healthcare reports that Medicare is going to add physician specific Medicare payments to the hospital specific payments. Their rationale is idiotic but what would one expect from the government. They believe that people will actually look up their physician payments and turn them in for fraud. Along with the payments will be the codes which no one understands and patient outcomes which no one knows what they are. This is on top of the quarterly payment statement that all Medicare recipients already get. This will be a treasure trove for the wonks who have nothing else to do except look at mind numbing figures.
The liberal Time magazine has an article slanted to giving illegal aliens Obamacare coverage. Even Pelosi has said this is not going to happen. Some Republicans even want to not allow illegal aliens to get coverage after they get green cards or citizenship. That is as wrong as giving them coverage now. Top
CMS has reiterated to physicians that they have the right to contest the information contained in the public Sunshine reports. These are the reports that shine the light on physicians who take money for speaking and doing other things for drug companies. The web site goes active August 1. The information will be provided by the drug companies not by the physicians. Top
California has fine Kaiser Health Plan $4 million for their violations of the mental health laws in the state. They published material that wrongly stated tht they could deny long term mental services to some individuals. They also had patients wait over the 2 week time limit for an initial appointment and manipulating data to make it difficult to see if they were obeying the law. This fine is the result of Kaiser being told of the deficiencies in January and not fixing them. 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.