From NRHA: Multiple developments as debt ceiling deadline approaches
July 20, 2011 (NRHA email) -The so-called “Gang of Six” reunited Tuesday morning and presented their plan for deficit reduction to a group of approximately 50 senators. Reports have stated that the deal, totaling $3.7 trillion over 10 years, would include 26 percent revenue increase and 74 percent spending cuts.
Early information shows a compromise that includes $116 billion in cuts to health care. The released information, however, does not include the specifics of where these cuts would be made. In comparison, the Boehner-Cantor proposal presented at the White House early last week would cut $340 billion in health care programs within the decade.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated that this compromise is not intended to be a solution for the looming debt ceiling issue, but rather a long-term solution to large budget deficits and debt. Reid indicated that sections of the compromise would likely be included in the McConnell-Reid proposal; however, the deal is unlikely to include the entire compromise. The full Gang of Six deficit reduction plan might be taken up at a later time as a blueprint for spending over the next several years, past the crisis of raising the debt ceiling.
The House, meanwhile, voted last night on H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. This bill would cut current spending levels for total government expenditures, cap future expenditures at a set percentage of GDP and mandate a “balanced budget amendment” to the Constitution. The vote was largely along party lines, though nine Republicans voted against the measure and five Democrats voted in favor of the bill. The Senate is unlikely to pass the legislation, and President Obama has promised to veto the bill if it is presented to him.
Because the details of the health care cuts included in the Gang of Six or Reid-McConnell proposals have not been released, it is critical that we keep our message to Capitol Hill strong. Please contact your members of Congress and ask them:
- To oppose a debt ceiling proposal that contains devastating cuts to rural health care.
- $14 billion in Medicare cuts to rural providers will decimate the delivery of health care in rural America, likely forcing many facilities to close.
- Rural hospitals are critical to the 62 million patients they serve and to the rural economy and can mean as much as 20 percent of revenue generated in rural areas.
Contact information for your members of Congress is available on NRHA’s homepage. NRHA will also continue to update our blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed as additional information becomes available. If you have questions about this information, contact Maggie Elehwany at melehwany@nrharural.org or David Lee at dlee@nrharural.org
Exchanges: HHS Official Offers Insights On State Deadline, Insurer Roles
July 22, 2011 (Kaiser Health News) - During a news briefing in Washington, D.C., Steve Larsen, deputy administrator and director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the CMS, discussed certain issues related to the establishment of state health exchanges.
Modern Healthcare: Exchange Deadline May Be A Soft One
The Obama administration official overseeing the establishment of state health insurance exchanges left open the possibility Thursday that no states will establish such marketplaces by the 2014 statutory deadline. Steve Larsen, deputy administrator and director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the CMS, described at a news briefing in Washington the various activities that some states have undertaken to establish their own exchanges — a central component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, even the states furthest along in the process have multiple complex steps left to undertake before the deadline (Daly, 7/21).
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NIH tips for older adults to combat heat-related illnesses
July 18, 2011 (NIH News Release) - Older people can face risks related to hot weather. As people age, their bodies lose some ability to adapt to heat. They may have medical conditions that are worsened by heat. And their medications could reduce their ability to respond to heat.
The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, has some advice for helping older people avoid heat-related illnesses, known collectively as hyperthermia.
Hyperthermia occurs when the body overheats. Conditions involving hyperthermia have different names, including heat stroke, heat fatigue, heat syncope (lightheadedness or fainting in the heat), heat cramps and heat exhaustion.
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Oregon centers win a combined $1M in federal funds for telemedicine
July 19, 2011 (Telemedicine and e-Health News Alert) - Two Medford, OR, health centers have received about a half-million dollars each through the U.S. Bureau of Primary Health Care's School-Based Health Center Capital Program toward a telemedicine service connecting schools in Oregon's Upper Rogue region with local physicians, as well as a mobile health center for area schools. La Clinica del Valle won $456,890 to build an RV-sized medical-dental clinic that will provide free care for uninsured children,, while Community Health Center (CHC) received $494,600 to create live telemedicine communication connecting students in Butte Falls, Prospect, and eventually, Shady Cove and Trail, with physicians and nurses at CHC's White City, OR, clinic and at Eagle Point High School.
» VIEW THE LIST OF WINNERS
American Well™ Online Care Suite wins EHR modular certification
July 19, 2011 (Telemedicine and e-Health News Alert) - American Well™ (Boston, MA) has received electronic health record (EHR) modular certification from the federal government for its Online Care Suite. The designation allows providers to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act when they deploy the telehealth service. Online Care Suite was tested and certified under the Drummond Group's Electronic Health Records Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). Online Care Suite connects patients and healthcare providers for either on-demand or scheduled encounters using two-way video, secure text chat and/or phone.
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$10 Million in Affordable Care Act funds to help create workplace health programs
July 20, 2011 (AAFP NEWS NOW) - Meeting the health care needs of the country's rural population is increasingly problematical, but at a recent primary care forum hosted by the AAFP's Robert Graham Center, former AAFP President Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho, along with several other speakers, suggested that instituting programs in medical schools and residencies that cross-train family physicians and general surgeons, in conjunction with critical-access hospitals, could result in an enhanced level of care for rural populations.
Rural areas often lack an adequate supply of primary care physicians and general surgeons, said Epperly during the July 14 forum here. Often family physicians and general surgeons in these areas need to provide coverage for each other and collaborate to ensure rural patients can get the health care they need.
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Obama Backs 'Gang Of Six' Plan That Includes Medicare Cuts
July 20, 2011 (Kaiser Health News) - The Senate's "Gang of Six" unveiled its 10-year, $3.7 trillion deficit reduction plan Tuesday and received a warm, bipartisan reception in the upper chamber. Meanwhile, in the House, GOP lawmakers, in a largely symbolic vote, passed their "cut, cap and balance" measure, which the White House has called "unacceptable." These two separate tracks lead media outlets to examine the prospects for compromise when Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs are among the issues very much at the heart of the debate.
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