September 15, 2013 Legislation

Healthcare

Employers have less than a month to translate the IRS form from government speak to real English and give it to their current employees.  This is required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.  

The House is considering a bill that would not allow fed money to be used for individual Obamacare subsidies unless there is in place a verification process that the people actually qualify for the money.  Can anyone imagine the feds saying to an individual at a later date sorry but you need to repay the money we gave you since you really did not qualify for the program.  HHS does not want to verify but only base the payment on the individual attestation.  Anyone remember the old phrase "Trust but Verify".

Finally the CMS is going to do something about the abhorrent hospital practice of adding facility fees both in the ED and in the purchased physician office.  They are planning to put limits on the ED facility fees and then to make them one price.  This may take money from local trauma centers and give too much to simple walk-in patients but at least it is a start.  They also want a flat facility fee of abut $88 for a patient being seen in a physician office.  That is $88 too much.  The AHA disagrees and they go back to the old saw that the money pays for the underinsured.  

In the schizoid state of California, the legislature passe4d and sent to the Governor for consideration in signing a bill allowing non-physicians to perform abortions in the first trimester.  Then the shelved a bill to advance a nurse practitioner increase in scope of practice by allowing them to work without physician supervision.  The difference is the abortion bill requires the non-physicians to have covering physicians when they do the abortion as opposed to no supervision.        Top

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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.