I came across this video from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and thought “This is exactly the kind of content medical practices can use for their website and social media content.” In this seven-minute video, the “YouToons” learn how the coming healthcare reform will affect them by placing consumers into one of four insurance categories: employer covered, government covered, privately insured, and privately uninsured.
The video is a straightforward, approachable overview of a complicated subject, and would make a fantastic post on the website of a physician or medical office. Even providers without a website could educate patients by posting this link to Facebook or Twitter, or by including it in an email newsletter. My partner Abraham wrote a primer on talking to patients and staff about reform last July, but this video is even simpler, and is everyone’s favorite – an entertaining movie! It even has clickable icons inside the video for calculating premiums and finding out the status of state health insurance exchanges by state.
Why is a video like this a great piece of content to share with your patients and readers? Here are three reasons:
Meaningful Use is the phrase used in the 2009 HITECH Act to describe the standard providers must achieve to receive incentive payments for purchasing and implementing an EHR system. The term meaningful use combines clinical use of the EHR (i.e. ePrescribing), health information exchange, and reporting of clinical quality measures. Achieving meaningful use also requires the use of an EHR that has been certified by a body such as CCHIT, Drummond Group, ICSA Laboratories, Inc. or InfoGuard Laboratories, Inc. The term can also apply informally to the process of achieving the standard, for example “How is our practice doing with meaningful use?”
mHealth
An abbreviation for Mobile Health, mHealth is a blanket label for transmitting health services, and indeed practicing medicine, using mobile devices such as cell phones and tablets. mHealth has large implications not only for newer devices like smartphones and high-end tablets, but also for feature phones and low-cost tablets in developing nations. Many different software and hardware applications fit under the umbrella of mHealth so the term is used conceptually to talk about future innovations and delivery systems.
At Manage My Practice we like to keep our posts informative and actionable – and not political. I’ve tried to provide the facts about the reforms, and how they could affect your patients and staff in an unbiased and professional manner – exactly how you would present them as an administrator. I hope you find it useful. – Abe
The process of passing and implementing a law is a long and winding road, but President Obama’s Healthcare Reforms cleared a significant hurdle on Thursday when the Supreme Court upheld most of the law as constitutional against challenges from many of the states as well as business organizations. You have probably been getting a lot of questions from employees, patients, friends and relatives, and even your providers and colleagues, and they all basically boil down to this: How does the law affect me?
Per the excellent live coverage at SCOTUSBlog of the Supreme Court’s decision in the constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act,
The bottom line: the entire ACA is upheld, with the exception that the federal government’s power to terminate states’ Medicaid funds is narrowly read.
The reporters had quick access to physical copies of the opinion, and found the explanation of the Mandate Status in the majority opinion.
“Our precedent demonstrates that Congress had the power to impose the exaction in Section 5000A under the taxing power, and that Section 5000A need not be read to do more than impose a tax. This is sufficient to sustain it. “
Updates, with links to the full opinions, to follow.
The PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) reforms that were passed almost two years ago have been contested in court almost from the moment President Obama finished signing the bill.
All providers and suppliers who enrolled in the Medicare program prior to Friday, March 25, 2011, will be required to revalidate their enrollment under new risk screening criteria required by the Affordable Care Act (section 6401a). Providers/suppliers who enrolled on or after Friday, March 25, 2011 have already been subject to this screening, and need not revalidate at this time.
New Screening Criteria
In the continued effort to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse, CMS implemented new screening criteria to the Medicare provider/supplier enrollment process beginning in March 2011. Newly-enrolling and revalidating providers and suppliers are placed in one of three screening categories – limited, moderate, or high – each representing the level of risk to the Medicare program for the particular category of provider/supplier, and determining the degree of screening to be performed by the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) processing the enrollment application. More information on the screening categories is here.
Notices Will Be Sent to Providers/Suppliers
Between now and March 2013, MACs will be sending notices to individual providers/suppliers; please begin the revalidation process as soon as you hear from your MAC. Upon receipt of the revalidation request, providers and suppliers have 60 days from the date of the letter to submit complete enrollment forms. Failure to submit the enrollment forms as requested may result in the deactivation of your Medicare billing privileges. The easiest and quickest way to revalidate your enrollment information is by using Internet-based PECOS (Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System), at https://pecos.CMS.hhs.gov.
Fees Levied
Section 6401a of the Affordable Care Act requires institutional providers and suppliers to pay an application fee when enrolling or revalidating (“institutional provider” includes any provider or supplier that submits a paper Medicare enrollment application using the CMS-855A; CMS-855B, not including physician and non-physician practitioner organizations; CMS-855S; or associated Internet-based PECOS enrollment applications); these fees may be paid via www.Pay.gov.
In order to reduce the burden on the provider, CMS is working to develop innovative technologies and streamlined enrollment processes – including Internet-based PECOS. Updates will continue to be shared with the provider community as these efforts progress.
For more information about provider revalidation, review the Medicare Learning Network’s Special Edition Article #SE1126, titled “Further Details on the Revalidation of Provider Enrollment Information.”
Two milestone Acts were approved by Congress this week and both will be presented to President Obama for his signature shortly.
Image via Wikipedia
What he will be signing:
The “Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010” This legislation freezes Medicare physician payments at current rates through the end of 2011. The Act also includes funds for Medicare contractors to pay claims for physician services affected by provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed last spring. The bill, estimated to cost $19.3 billion over 10 years, will be paid for by changing a provision of the health reform act that provides tax credits for people who buy coverage. President Obama released a statement saying: “It’s time for a permanent solution that seniors and their doctors can depend on and I look forward to working with Congress to address this matter once and for all in the coming year.
“Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010” changes the Red Flags Rule’s definition of “creditor” and relieves doctors from complying with the Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft prevention law.
The Center for Healthcare Transformation may not be my organization of choice, but they’ve put together an excellent timeline of the PPAC (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), also called the ACA or Affordable Care Act.
The timeline shows what’s happening in regards to Medicare, Medicaid, public health, insurance, Indian health, taxes and government programs. You can slide the timeline forward or backward and jump around in hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc. increments. It gives you a wonderful sense of the Big Picture. It is also being constantly updated.
And, for a quick look at the ACA changes happening as of September 23, 2010, you can watch a short video that I made for the “? of the Day” tab above. I thought this tab was getting just a bit boring, so I thought I would post short animations there that readers could share with staff or whomever for infotainment. I posted the first video under the “? of the Day” tab and also here for your convenience.
Physicians and “eligible” providers received a jolt today in the May 5, 2010 Federal Register as the date for enrollment in PECOS was moved up (pending the comment period and any changes resulting from the comment period) six months for providers that order or supply durable medical equipment (DME) for Medicare patients. Instead of the January 3, 2011 date previously announced by CMS, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act or PPACA) has provisions to move the go-date to July 6, 2010, just 60 days away.
What does this mean to you? Unless something changes based on public comments, beginning July 6, 2010:
Providers with a National Provider Identifier (NPI) must include it on their Medicare and Medicaid enrollment applications and claims.
Providers of medical items/other items/services and suppliers that qualify for a National Provider Identifier (NPI) must include their NPI on all applications to enroll in the Medicare and Medicaid programs AND on all claims for payment submitted under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
The ordering/referring supplier must be a physician or an eligible professional with an approved enrollment record in the Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) thus changing the previously reported January 3, 2011 date given by CMS.
Claims that do not meet these requirements will be rejected by Medicare contractors.
As I write this Sunday night I am listening to the US House of Representatives’ discussion/posturing prior to a ‘yes” or “no” vote for the Senate’s healthcare reform bill H. R. 3590. I don’t usually listen to CNN Live, but I want to remember this moment as I think it is the beginning of significant change in healthcare.
I’m not sure what this change will be, but many things that have been status quo for healthcare during my career might change almost beyond recognition by the time I retire. This, I think, is a good thing. I don’t think the current system is bad, but I sure think it could be better. As with any change, there will be good things, bad things, and unintended good and bad things. It should be fascinating.
Discussion has now timed out and the representatives are voting; 216 votes are needed to pass. The vote has just been announced (10:45 p.m.) and it is 219 Yeas to 210 Nays and the bill is passed! The next step is for it to be signed into law by President Obama, which might happen tonight or tomorrow.
Now the representatives are voting on H.R. 4872 – “The Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010” which contains fixes to H.R. 3590 that have been negotiated between the two chambers. The bill has just passed (11:37 p.m.) with 220 Yeas and 211 Nays! 4872 will now go to the Senate for a vote which some are predicting will pass as early as Tuesday.
President Obama spoke from the White House after the votes and said “Tonight we answered the call of history.” The passage of these bills has been compared to the passage of Medicare in 1965 and the passage of Social Security in 1935.
Here are details of both bills.
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Details on H.R. 3590 ”˜”˜Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’’
Cost: $940 billion over ten years.
Deficit: Would reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first ten years. Would reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion dollars in the second ten years.
Coverage: Would expand coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured.
Health Insurance Exchanges:
The uninsured and self-employed would be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level.
Separate exchanges would be created for small businesses to purchase coverage — effective 2014.
Funding available to states to establish exchanges within one year of enactment and until January 1, 2015.
Subsidies: Individuals and families who make between 100 percent – 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and want to purchase their own health insurance on an exchange are eligible for subsidies. They cannot be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid and cannot be covered by an employer. Eligible buyers receive premium credits and there is a cap for how much they have to contribute to their premiums on a sliding scale. Federal Poverty Level for family of four is $22,050.
Paying for the Plan:
Medicare Payroll tax on investment income — Starting in 2012, the Medicare Payroll Tax will be expanded to include unearned income. That will be a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for families making more than $250,000 per year ($200,000 for individuals).
Excise Tax — Beginning in 2018, insurance companies will pay a 40 percent excise tax on so-called “Cadillac” high-end insurance plans worth over $27,500 for families ($10,200 for individuals). Dental and vision plans are exempt and will not be counted in the total cost of a family’s plan.
Closes the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” by 2020. Seniors who hit the donut hole by 2010 will receive a $250 rebate.
Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. The bill also includes $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade.
Medicaid: Expands Medicaid to include 133 percent of federal poverty level which is $29,327 for a family of four.
Requires states to expand Medicaid to include childless adults starting in 2014.
Federal Government pays 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible individuals through 2016.
Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid.
Insurance Reforms:
Six months after enactment, insurance companies can no longer deny children coverage based on a preexisting condition.
Starting in 2014, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions.
Insurance companies must allow children to stay on their parent’s insurance plans through age 26.
Abortion:
The bill segregates private insurance premium funds from taxpayer funds. Individuals would have to pay for abortion coverage by making two separate payments, private funds would have to be kept in a separate account from federal and taxpayer funds.
No health care plan would be required to offer abortion coverage. States could pass legislation choosing to opt out of offering abortion coverage through the exchange.
**Separately, anti-abortion Democrats worked out language with the White House on an executive order that would state that no federal funds can be used to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or health of the mother. (Read more here)
Individual Mandate: In 2014, everyone must purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual fine. There are some exceptions for low-income people.
Employer Mandate: Technically, there is no employer mandate. Employers with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay a fine of $2000 per worker each year if any worker receives federal subsidies to purchase health insurance. Fines applied to entire number of employees minus some allowances.
Immigration: Illegal immigrants will not be allowed to buy health insurance in the exchanges — even if they pay completely with their own money.
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Details on H.R. 4872 – “The Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010” (fixes to 3590)
COST: $940 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
HOW MANY COVERED: 32 million uninsured. Major coverage expansion begins in 2014. When fully phased in, 95 percent of eligible Americans would have coverage, compared with 83 percent today.
INSURANCE MANDATE: Almost everyone is required to be insured or else pay a fine. There is an exemption for low-income people. Mandate takes effect in 2014.
INSURANCE MARKET REFORMS: Major consumer safeguards take effect in 2014. Insurers prohibited from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more. Higher premiums for women would be banned. Starting this year, insurers would be forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, and from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing medical problems. Parents would be able to keep older kids on their policies up to age 26. A new high-risk pool would offer coverage to uninsured people with medical problems until 2014, when the coverage expansion goes into high gear.
MEDICAID: Expands the federal-state Medicaid insurance program for the poor to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, $29,327 a year for a family of four. Childless adults would be covered for the first time, starting in 2014. The federal government would pay 100 percent of the tab for covering newly eligible individuals through 2016. A special deal that would have given Nebraska 100 percent federal financing for newly eligible Medicaid recipients in perpetuity is eliminated. A different, one-time deal negotiated by Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu for her state, Louisiana, worth as much as $300 million, remains.
TAXES: Dramatically scales back a Senate-passed tax on high-cost insurance plans that was opposed by House Democrats and labor unions. The tax would be delayed until 2018, and the thresholds at which it is imposed would be $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. To make up for the lost revenue, the bill applies an increased Medicare payroll tax to investment income as well as wages for individuals making more than $200,000, or married couples above $250,000. The tax on investment income would be 3.8 percent.
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: Gradually closes the “doughnut hole” coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit that seniors fall into once they have spent $2,830. Seniors who hit the gap this year will receive a $250 rebate. Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap receive a discount on brand name drugs, initially 50 percent off. When the gap is completely eliminated in 2020, seniors will still be responsible for 25 percent of the cost of their medications until Medicare’s catastrophic coverage kicks in.
EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY: As in the Senate bill, businesses are not required to offer coverage. Instead, employers are hit with a fee if the government subsidizes their workers’ coverage. The $2,000-per-employee fee would be assessed on the company’s entire workforce, minus an allowance. Companies with 50 or fewer workers are exempt from the requirement. Part-time workers are included in the calculations, counting two part-timers as one full-time worker.
SUBSIDIES: The proposal provides more generous tax credits for purchasing insurance than the original Senate bill did. The aid is available on a sliding scale for households making up to four times the federal poverty level, $88,200 for a family of four. Premiums for a family of four making $44,000 would be capped at around 6 percent of income.
HOW YOU CHOOSE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE: Small businesses, the self-employed and the uninsured could pick a plan offered through new state-based purchasing pools called exchanges, opening for business in 2014. The exchanges would offer the same kind of purchasing power that employees of big companies benefit from. People working for medium-to-large firms would not see major changes. But if they lose their jobs or strike out on their own, they may be eligible for subsidized coverage through the exchange.
GOVERNMENT-RUN PLAN: No government-run insurance plan. People purchasing coverage through the new insurance exchanges would have the option of signing up for national plans overseen by the federal office that manages the health plans available to members of Congress. Those plans would be private, but one would have to be nonprofit.
ABORTION: The proposal keeps the abortion provision in the Senate bill. Abortion opponents disagree on whether restrictions on taxpayer funding go far enough. The bill tries to maintain a strict separation between taxpayer dollars and private premiums that would pay for abortion coverage. No health plan would be required to cover abortion. In plans that do cover abortion, policyholders would have to pay for it separately, and that money would have to be kept in a separate account from taxpayer money. States could ban abortion coverage in plans offered through the exchange. Exceptions would be made for cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother.
STUDENT LOAN OVERHAUL: Requires the government to originate student loans, closing out a role for banks and other private lenders who charge a fee. The savings ”“ projected to be more than $60 billion over a decade ”“ are plowed into higher Pell Grants for needy college students and increased support for historically black colleges.
MEDICARE: Extends Medicare’s solvency by at least nine years and reduces the rate of its growth by 1.4 percent, while closing the doughnut hole for seniors, meaning there will no longer be a gap in coverage of medication.
