Bush Administration

Here's a piece of news to make healthcare execs everywhere cringe: Filmmaker Michael Moore has issued a casting call for HMO employees and patients willing to appear in his upcoming documentary on the healthcare industry. In a posting on his Web site Friday, Moore asks visitors to send him their HMO and hospital "horror stories." The filmmaker says the film is in the final stages of production. Few observers expect the industry to get a sympathetic hearing from Moore, who created …

Florida has launched a new hospital comparison Web site which could serve as a model for other states. The new site lists details on infection rates, complications, survival rates for certain procedures and prices. Florida is the first state in the nation to make information about infections public, the Orlando Sun Sentinel reports. The new site is a result of a 2004 law passed by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush over the objections of hospitals. The presidential Bush administration is …

Next Tuesday will see the President featuring healthcare in his State of the Union address. He'll be calling for malpractice reform, increased use of HSAs (health savings accounts) and other tax-free health spending, and greater transparency in healthcare pricing. As with anything in politics, it's conjecture as to how much of his proposed agenda will get through.

Raising …

Despite problems in the program's first weeks, Medicare Part D is on pace to match expectations in terms of enrollment. The Bush administration announced yesterday that more than 2.6 million additional Medicare recipients have signed up for the plan. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt told reporters that enrollment will likely pass the target of 28 million of 30 million predicted by the May 15 deadline. The issue now is whether or not the emergency fixes announced over the weekend will patch …

The Bush administration has ordered insurers to provide a temporary 30-day supply of medicines to Medicare Part D recipients in an effort to control growing problems. The White House also ordered co-pays for low income seniors to be capped at $5 per prescription. The move is seen as an admission that things are not going as smoothly as they could be. Over the weekend, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mark McClellan conceded that "thousands" of program …

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Bush administration plans to make healthcare "the major focus" of its domestic agenda in 2006. A series of significant policy announcements are expected which could be addressed during the State of the Union address in early February. Specifics are not yet available, but a broad outline of what is being planned is becoming clear. Among the market-friendly proposals the administration is said to be considering are tax credits for those who …

The Bush administration is expected to publish a final rule that would reduce doctors Medicare reimbursement rates by 4.4 percent today. The cuts are strongly opposed by doctors' groups, led by the AMA. Critics argue the change unfairly penalizes doctors and warn that it could lead some to stop accepting new Medicare patients. In the past, Congress has passed legislation repealing similar cuts. Observers say the proposed rule sets the stage for a political fight in Washington, likely to …

In a surprise decision, the House of Representatives rejected a health and education spending measure in a close (224-208) vote yesterday. The $142.5 billion plan included $900 million in cuts to healthcare services. Democrats and some Republicans who voted against the bill said they objected to provisions  which would have cut funding for the CDC and reduced aid to low income victims of Hurricane Katrina. Some observers see the unwillingness of moderate Republicans to vote …

This week may or may not have been a political harbinger for the coming years. Following a disastrous year for the Bush administration, Democrats have been claiming victory following wins in Virginia, New Jersey and California. Meanwhile, voters in California and Washington rejected measures that would have limited the activities (and incomes) of drug companies and trial lawyers. In …

The media focused on the details of the Bush administration's plan to fight a potential H5N1 pandemic yesterday. Reaction was largely mixed, with Democrats calling the plan inadequate and most Republicans in Washington calling it a good start. The official government estimate that an influenza epidemic could infect three quarters of the US population and kill as many as 1.9 million Americans led the headlines.

Some observers worry that the hospital system could be completely …