The Debt Ceiling Crisis Is Averted -- Now What?
by Sean Williams
August 1, 2011 (Daily Finance) - If it seems like we've been here before, we have. In fact, we've been in this debt-ceiling-raising situation 78 -- yes, seventy-eight -- times since 1960. Once again, disaster appears to have been averted, and both political parties grimaced enough to essentially agree on a spending-cut bill, which will cut at least $2.2 trillion out of the U.S. budget over the next decade.
The skinny
The bill, which is set to go to vote sometime today, is staggered into two stages. The first stage would go into effect immediately, calling for more than $900 billion in spending cuts on federal programs with a $900 billion increase in the U.S. Treasury's borrowing ability.
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More on this:
• President Announces Completion of Deal to Raise Debt Ceiling (NRHA, August 1, 2011)
• Fact Sheet: Bipartisan Debt Deal: A Win for the Economy and Budget Discipline (White House, August 1, 2011)
CMS Announces More Accurate FY 2012 Payments for Medicare Skilled Nursing Facilities
August 1, 2011 (RAConline.org | News & Events) - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a final rule reducing Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System (PPS) payments in FY 2012 by $3.87 billion, or 11.1 percent lower than payments for FY 2011. The FY 2012 rates correct for an unintended spike in payment levels and better align Medicare payments with costs.
CMS is committed to providing high quality care to those in skilled nursing facilities and to pay those facilities properly for that care,” said CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick, M.D. “The adjustments to the payment rates for next year reflect that policy.”
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Defining Rural: Too Many Definitions Cause Problems
August 1, 2011 (KFGO) - Too many federal definitions of "rural" make it hard for local officials to figure out what programs they qualify for, so Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said he will ask the White House Rural Council and Congress to try to reduce the number.
After a participant in the Council on Foundations conference on rural philanthropy said that variations in qualifications for various rural development programs make it difficult for communities to participate, Vilsack said he would be glad to take the issue to the White House Rural Council, an Obama administration innovation composed of Cabinet officers and leaders of other federal agencies.
Vilsack jokingly asked the audience if they were bothered that USDA has 11 different definitions of rural America. The varying definitions, which depend on population and other characteristics, "provide a convenient excuse not to do something," he said.
Some programs say a rural community cannot be more than 50,000 people, Vilsack said, while other programs are for populations of only 20,000. If the population has three people above that number, the community cannot qualify.
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Affordable Care Act Ensures Women Receive Preventive Services at No Additional Cost
August 1, 2011 (HHS News Release) - Historic new guidelines that will ensure women receive preventive health services at no additional cost were announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Developed by the independent Institute of Medicine, the new guidelines require new health insurance plans to cover women’s preventive services such as well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screening, and contraception without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or a deductible.
“The Affordable Care Act helps stop health problems before they start,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need.”
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Opportunities to pursue bachelor's degrees may be limited for nurses in rural hospitals
August 2011 (AHRQ | Research Findings | Health Care Workforce) - When quality professionals look at hospitals across the Nation, they tend to lump all rural hospitals into one category. A new study finds that nursing characteristics vary among large and small rural hospitals. Most nurses in both types of rural hospitals graduate from associate degree programs.
Robin P. Newhouse, Ph.D., R.N., NEA-BC, of the University of Maryland School of Nursing surveyed 280 nurse executives from small (25 beds or fewer or a critical access hospital) and large (more than 25 beds) rural hospitals. For both large and small hospitals, 77 percent of the registered nurses hold associate degrees. Of the nurses who have bachelor's degrees, more work in larger rural hospitals (20.8 percent) than small rural hospitals (17.1 percent). The authors suggest this is likely a result of the proximity of the rural hospital to colleges and universities.
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More on Nursing Workforce:
• HHS awards $71.3 million to strengthen nursing workforce (HHS News Release, July 29, 2011)
Oversight Excludes Rural Health Clinics From Medicare EHR Bonus Program
by Sheri Porter
July 27, 2011 (AAFP.org) - It's an "oversight," a "technical glitch," an "unintentional error," or perhaps just a "misunderstanding" about how rural health clinics bill the government for health care services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. That's how some rural family physicians describe the fact that most of America's nearly 3,800 rural health clinics likely will miss out when physicians receive their checks for meeting all of the requirements of Medicare's electronic health record, or EHR, incentive program.
According to AAFP Director Robert Wergin, M.D., of Milford, Neb., his rural family medicine practice possibly will miss out on collecting $440,000 -- the amount available if each of the clinic's 10 physicians earned the maximum Medicare EHR incentive of $44,000.
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Healthland Introduces the First Electronic Health Record (EHR) Solution Designed for Rural Clinicians by Rural Clinicians
August 1, 2011 (Enhanced Online News) - Healthland, America's market leader of healthcare information technology solutions for rural hospitals, today announced the launch of its new electronic health record (EHR) solution, Healthland Centriq™. Healthland Centriq is the first EHR solution in the healthcare market designed for rural clinicians with input from rural clinicians. With its focus on a superior user experience that supports rural hospital workflow, Healthland Centriq helps rural hospitals deliver safe, quality healthcare while improving the patient experience. Horn Memorial Hospital and Grape Community Hospital in Iowa and Mitchell County Hospital in Texas are among the first who have invested in Centriq.
“The concept of getting clients involved in solution development and having the opportunity to provide input is fantastic, and has made the product as user-friendly as it can be,” said Robbie Dewberry, Mitchell County Hospital CEO. “Ensuring patient safety and having the proper tools that allow physicians to be confident is important – and having patient information that is readily available is critical. When our physicians at Mitchell were presented with Centriq they wanted it immediately. That was the point when we really decided to move forward.”
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