Health Care Reform March 15 2010

Week of 15 March 2010



federal

With a staff of personnel operatives looking for real reform provisions including those previously rejected by the House, Senate and president of the proposals, the Democratic leadership is relentlessly pursuing every possible way to bring the final račun.Očekuje process have: 1) House pass the Senate-passed reform bill (which most members of the House of hatred), 2) the House passing legislation to "fix" everything that he hates the harmonization of legislation with vehicle, followed by 3) the Senate passing a same harmonization of laws - requires only 51 votes in Senatu.Kuća Budget and rules Committees are expected to will start the review, hearing and mark-up process of reconciliation legislation this tjedan.Senat commitment to using reconciliation was made ​​official in a sharp letter to the Leader Harry Reid, the minority leader. Later the two Chambers will need to see the latest CBO, "points" on the bill before the vote, and 216 House Democrats will have to solve the political disputes over abortion, the federal health insurance rate review and authorization, material and other issues. In addition, the House would have to believe that the Senate could pass the reconciliation measure without changing a comma. Partisanship has blossomed into open hostility over health care reform. Whether Congress can overcome this policy, process and political minefields remain murky as ever, but the Democrats have decided to try to push for resolution by the Easter recess.

The Senate passed Jobs Bill II and shipped off home, where the passage is not certain. In the account of two items of note to health. First, the COBRA subsidy eligibility and the program will be extended until 2010. (These provisions are to expire in late March.) Second, the law includes a suspension to 30 from September 2010 to cut Medicare physician fees for the current calendar year. (This provision also expires in late March.) Aetna urged Congress to apply the "doc fix" for next year's compensation, since the Medicare insurance rates based on what doctors are paid, but at the end of the Congress failed to make the change. Aetna and the industry will continue to find ways to establish a lasting, if not always, doc repair and create a legal solution to the discrepancy between physician fees and Medicare Advantage rates for 2011 and beyond.

States

Arizona: The budgetary issues remain front and seat of the governor and the Republican leadership proposed a plan that we hope will close the $ 700 million deficit this year and reduce the projected deficit of $ 2.6 billion in 2011. State fiscal righting the ship has become a highly partisan exercise with Republicans supporting a reduction in Medicaid and KidsCare, and the elimination of full-day kindergarten. As a special session of the Budget was launched simultaneously with the regular session, no other record hearings are održana.Usmeni chemotherapy parity law may be dead for this year, as the applicants did not meet the deadline for filing amendatory language.