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The furor over Medicare cost estimates has blessedly subsided during the congressional recess while focus is sharpening over the first benefits available through the new law: ? Next up: Pricing transparency for prescription drugs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expects to begin posting the prices of drugs in 209 "therapeutic categories" on its website on April 29 so seniors can … [Read more...] about New Benefits

If anyone needed further evidence that the Bush administration really wants Health Savings Accounts to work, they found it in new regulations issued this week by the Treasury Department and IRS. Many companies, especially large ones, have been waiting for additional guidance before deciding whether to offer HSAs as an employee benefit in 2005, saying they needed the guidance by the end of March … [Read more...] about Good Guidance

We were awash in bad news this week on the health care front: ? The Medicare Trustees' report raised alarms across the nation about the accelerating insolvency of the program. ? The feud between former CMS administrator Tom Scully and chief actuary Rick Foster became front-page news over Foster being told to withhold his higher cost estimates of the Medicare bill from Congress. ? The Wall Street … [Read more...] about Power and Control

With bitter controversy swirling around cost estimates of the new Medicare law, it was a good week to be out of Washington talking with real people about what is happening in the real world of health care. Business owners don?t focus on 10 year cost projections: They deal with what health care costs today, and they are desperately seeking solutions. Philadelphia: On Monday and Tuesday, Greg … [Read more...] about The Real World

We are much relieved that Dr. Mark McClellan was confirmed by the Senate soon after midnight today as director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Why do the health care votes all seem to come in the middle of the night?) Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist?s statement following the vote captured the sentiment of Mark?s legions of fans: "Dr. McClellan is the right person to lead … [Read more...] about Job One

Now that Democrats have selected Sen. John Kerry as their presidential nominee, a quick review of his key health policy proposals seems in order. The most distinctive feature of the Kerry health initiative is his plan to have the federal government take over high health care costs for employers ? and in a way that moves toward the cherished liberal goal of mandating that all employers provide … [Read more...] about The Kerry Plan

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) have threatened to hold up the nomination of Mark McClellan to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services because Dr. McClellan refuses, as FDA commissioner, to permit the importation of price-controlled drugs from Canada into the U.S. This boggles the mind. The FDA commissioner is sworn to uphold the law of the land ? as are United States … [Read more...] about The Rule of Law

With Congress away this week, we can take a momentary break from the heat of the health care debate to focus on the bigger vision of health system change. Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas spent an hour last week painting his vision of what?s wrong with our health care system and what fundamental changes are needed to set it aright. In a speech in Washington sponsored by the National Center … [Read more...] about The Vision