The Stimulus and Your ED Business

From the EDPMA:

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”).  ARRA includes nearly $800 billion in Federal spending and tax relief aimed at creating jobs, rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, and providing tax and financial assistance to individuals and the States.  A significant percentage of spending is in the health care area.  The key health care provisions affecting EDPMA members companies are summarized below.

(Excerpt)

·         Medicare Bonus/Penalty Payments:  ARRA creates a bonus/penalty system for physicians, hospitals (including critical access hospitals), and Medicare Advantage-affiliated physicians who adopt EHR.  The program begins with bonuses which eventually phase into penalties.  Physicians are eligible for up to $44,000 in bonuses, while hospitals may qualify for up to $11 million.  In 2015, Medicare payment reductions will kick-in for physicians or hospitals that have not adopted EHR.  However, hospital-based professionals, including emergency physicians who furnish substantially all of such services in a hospital setting and through the use of the facilities and equipment of the hospital, are not eligible for the bonus payments.

Obama to Begin Sending $15 Billion to States for Medicaid Costs

From Bloomberg:

President Barack Obama’s administration will begin distributing more than $15 billion to help beleaguered states cover rising costs for the Medicaid program, a White House official said.

The money, which will be released starting Feb. 25, is part of the $787 billion fiscal stimulus that Obama signed into law last week. The $15 billion is being released now to provide immediate help for states.

NQF endorses cultural-competency practices

From Modern Healthcare:

The National Quality Forum endorsed 45 cultural competency practices for providing culturally appropriate and patient-centered care.

The standards-approving organization said the practices—largely in the areas of communication, community engagement and training—will help providers to reduce disparities and improve quality of care among different patients. Racial and ethnic groups such as African-Americans, Alaska Natives and American Indians continue to have disproportionately higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, lower life expectancies and higher rates of infant mortality, according to the NQF.

The newly endorsed practices include determining the linguistic needs of a patient at first point of contact and periodically reassessing that need, implementing workforce training to address cultural needs, and maintaining current demographic and cultural profiles of the communities served.

Health Spending Projections Through 2018

From Health Affairs:

During the projection period (2008-2018), average annual growth in national health spending is projected to be 6.2 percent–2.1 percentage points faster than average annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP). The health share of GDP is anticipated to rise rapidly from 16.2 percent in 2007 to 17.6 percent in 2009, largely as a result of the recession, and then climb to 20.3 percent by 2018. Public payers are expected to become the largest source of funding for health care in 2016 and are projected to pay for more than half of all national health spending in 2018.