Implementing Health Reform: Increasing Medicaid Payments For Primary Care Physicians – Health Affairs Blog

On May 9, 2012, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services released proposed regulations to implement section 1202 of the Health Care and Education Reform Act of 2010. Section 1202 increases Medicaid payments made to primary care physicians for primary care services during the years 2013 and 2014 to Medicare payment rates, with the additional cost covered by the federal government.

via Implementing Health Reform: Increasing Medicaid Payments For Primary Care Physicians – Health Affairs Blog.

HEALTH CARE LAW INCREASES PAYMENTS TO DOCTORS FOR PRIMARY CARE

Primary care physicians serving Medicaid patients would see their Medicaid payments rise under a proposed rule announced today by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  Through the Affordable Care Act, the increase would bring Medicaid primary care service fees in line with those paid by Medicare. The boost would be in effect for calendar years (CY) 2013 and 2014. States would receive a total of more than $11 billion in new funds to bolster their Medicaid primary care delivery systems.

via HEALTH CARE LAW INCREASES PAYMENTS TO DOCTORS FOR PRIMARY CARE.

New Report: Health Care Law Makes Community Health Centers Stronger | The White House

The new law is also delivering critical support to Community Health Centers nationwide. This morning, the Obama Administration announced new grants made possible by the Affordable Care Act to support 398 renovation and construction projects at Community Health Centers nationwide. These projects will help Community Health Centers serve nearly 900,000 more patients. And these grants are just one of the ways the new health care law and our Administration are making Community Health Centers stronger.

According to a new report we released today:

The health care law has already supported 190 construction and renovation projects at health centers and the creation of 67 new health center sites across the country,

via New Report: Health Care Law Makes Community Health Centers Stronger | The White House.

New Report: Health Care Law Invests in Nurses | The White House

The new law and the Obama Administration are investing in education and training opportunities for nurses. According to a new report we released today:

The number of National Health Service Corps primary care providers nearly tripled between 2009 and 2011 with support from Affordable Care Act, the Recovery Act and ongoing appropriations, supporting more than 1,900 nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives.

via New Report: Health Care Law Invests in Nurses | The White House.

New Rulemaking Tracker Makes Obamacare Easier to Digest – PR.com

Enter Knowledge Mosaic Inc. The Seattle-based vendor of legal and federal regulatory information has created a new online tool, the Affordable Care Act Rulemaking Tracker (ACA Tracker). Patterned after their popular Dodd-Frank Rulemaking Tracker and part of their Knowledge Mosaic subscription service, the ACA Tracker allows government, attorneys, professionals at affected companies, lobbyists, journalists, healthcare administrators, and anyone else who may need to stay abreast of new and proposed rules resulting from the Act to make sense of what is going on.

“The ACA Tracker creates a suite of regulatory tracking tools that contribute enormously to our pathbreaking project to map the entire federal regulatory landscape,” said Knowledge Mosaic President Peter Schwartz.

via New Rulemaking Tracker Makes Obamacare Easier to Digest – PR.com.

Obamacare makes young docs gloomy about profession « The Enterprise Blog

The “new healthcare legislation” ranked as the top reason for gloom; 49% of docs said they believe PPACA will negatively (highly negative 28% and somewhat negative 21%) impact their profession;  57% are pessimistic (26% somewhat pessimistic and 31% highly pessimistic) about the U.S. healthcare system.

In contrast, only 4% are “highly optimistic,” and 18% who are “somewhat optimistic”. When asked (open-ended) reasons for their pessimism, responses covered a wide spectrum of negatives – with the “new healthcare legislation” and “government involvement” standing out.

via Obamacare makes young docs gloomy about profession « The Enterprise Blog.

Next generation of U.S. doctors sees gloomy future | Long Island Business News

A majority of young doctors feel pessimistic about the future of the U.S. health care system, with the new health care law cited as the main reason, according to a survey released to Reuters on Wednesday.

Nearly half of the 500 doctors surveyed think the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, will have a negative effect on their practices, compared with 23 percent who think it will be positive.

via Next generation of U.S. doctors sees gloomy future | Long Island Business News.

Jeffrey Singer on the Coming Medical Ethics Crisis – Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

For the past several years, the medical profession has been undergoing a disturbing transformation. The process was begun by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in an effort to control exploding Medicare costs, and was accelerated by the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. As a surgeon in practice for over 30 years, Jeffrey Singer has witnessed this transformation firsthand and he fears that his profession will soon be forced to abandon its traditional code of ethics. As Singer explains, the medical profession must decide—and soon—which ethical doctrine to follow: Are doctors to be agents of their patients or agents of the state?

via Jeffrey Singer on the Coming Medical Ethics Crisis – Hit & Run : Reason Magazine.

RealClearPolitics – Americans Resisting ObamaCare

The Department of Health and Human Services has announced that it must delay implementation of new reimbursement codes for Medicare. Those new regulations would have increased the total number of reimbursement codes from the current 18,000 to more than 140,000 separate codes. The delay will undoubtedly come as a relief for physicians who will have additional time to try to understand the bureaucratic complexity of rules that, for example, apply 36 different codes for treating a snake bite, depending on the type of snake, its geographical region, and whether the incident was accidental, intentional self-harm, assault, or undetermined. The new codes also thoroughly differentiate between nine different types of hang-gliding injuries, four different types of alligator attacks, and the important difference between injuries sustained by walking into a wall and those resulting from walking into a lamppost.

And Democrats wonder why Americans still resist having the government control our health care?

via RealClearPolitics – Americans Resisting ObamaCare.

Duke Nursing Grads at the Front Lines of Change | Duke Today

Patterson represents a changing face of health care in which nurse practitioners (NPs) are playing increasingly crucial roles as leaders on the front lines of primary care. They’re opening their own practices in rural areas where physicians are few, and giving residents of more populated cities an alternative to MD-run practices, often at a lower cost.

An additional 40 million people are expected to have health insurance beginning in 2014 when the Affordable Care Act is further implemented; the first of the baby boomer generation reached retirement age last year; and no help is in sight to relieve the national shortage of family physicians. A growing number of nurse practitioners are stepping in to help. In fact, the Affordable Care Act provides funding for nurse-managed primary care clinics and promotes the full participation of nurse practitioners as key care providers.

via Duke Nursing Grads at the Front Lines of Change | Duke Today.