Health Care Reform Update

It's been three months since health care passed and insurance companies still aren't out of the doghouse.

President Obama issued a stern warning Tuesday that the providers shouldn't use the new law "as an opportunity to enact unjustifiable rate increases," Reuters reports. He added that states and the federal government would monitor industry activity to ensure that won't happen.

The meeting between the president and insurers was the first of its kind since the law passed.

The White House has had to toe a careful line with insurance companies, which the Wall Street Journal notes will determine how seamless the transition to the new law will be. At the same time, officials have continued to point to industry problems as proof that the pricey overhaul was necessary.

Obama followed up the meeting by unveiling a "patients' bill of rights" that highlights aspects of the bill that are being implemented soon, including expanding coverage to children with chronic illnesses and eliminating limits on lifetime or annual insurance coverage, AP reports.

The White House also unveiled a $250-million fund to boost primary care.

The U.S. has long faced a shortage of primary-care doctors as medical students opt for specialized fields that pay more. But primary care is the sector of medicine that can help bring about some of the biggest cost savings -- by focusing on preventative care long before chronic conditions surface.

The funds being spent to train primary-care doctors and subsidize nursing school would create about 1,700 new doctors and nurses to address the gap. But it'll take a lot more than that to solve the problem.

The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that there will be a shortage of 47,000 primary-care doctors by 2025, according to the Washington Post .

The health care law included $1.5 billion to boost the sector, and this money represents a part of that fund. There is another $410 million set aside to help poor Americans get health training, the Los Angeles Times adds.

Insurance companies have started making changes ahead of new regulations in the law.

One unexpected outcome is that the companies are spending more money on customer service. As government officials prepare to create an open marketplace with health products by 2014, insurers are trying to boost their image to be competitive in that market.

That includes opening up retail storefronts to answer questions, offering wellness classes, improving customer service calls, and making insurance information more understandable.

"We see the stakes in terms of customer service going higher and higher," a Cigna rep told the Los Angeles Times .

Insurers add that the added customer service will limit confusion about how the new health law affects them.

Companies are also putting emphasis on preventative care to prevent costlier and more serious health conditions in the future, the New York Times reports.

Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania pays the salaries of nurses in doctor's offices to ensure that patients with chronic conditions take care of themselves and avoid visits to the emergency room.

Meanwhile, lawmakers put off what to do about Medicare cuts for another six months.

Their last-minute fix to avoid a 21 percent cut in what doctors get paid for treating Medicare patients came barely in time.

Thousands of physicians will receive the reduced amounts of reimbursement as checks were mailed before lawmakers ended the debate. While the doctors can file paperwork to get paid in full, the situation highlights the funding problems Medicare faces, Forbes writes.

"Chances are seniors soon will be staring at higher premiums, and slimmer benefits, for Medicare Advantage," CQ reports. That program allows private health care plans in Medicare.

Millions of seniors could be affected if the program is eliminated, as industry analysts expect it eventually will be. They would have to find other insurance or switch back to regular Medicare with its higher premiums.

The Seattle Times highlights the frustration seniors feel over the confusing debate. But the article adds that seniors stand to have better care under the new health care overhaul.

The media may be to blame for some of the public's confusion on health care.

A Pew review of how journalists covered the health care debate found that Americans found it difficult to understand and got more confused, not less, over time.

While acknowledging that health care is a complex topic, the study concludes that "the debate centered more on politics than the workings of the health care system."

Health care opponents did a better job of getting their message out than those who supported it, partly because of the time conservative talk show hosts devoted to that perspective, Pew adds.

The report has prompted a flurry of comments on blogs like the Huffington Post , which highlighted a graph that shows how much time was devoted to descriptions of the plan versus the politics and strategy of the debate. The latter got double the attention.

The Washington Post's Ezra Klein blamed public confusion about health care on the media's bias towards timely news rather than explaining the nuts and bolts of what has already happened.

"The media cover those points of controversy, and people tune in, but they missed the beginning, and now everyone is talking about the bill's third CBO score, not about how the thing actually works," he wrote.

Indian outsourcers haven't had trouble seeing that the health care law presents new opportunities for them.

As the U.S. health care industry looks to trim costs and make health care more affordable, many administrative services could be outsourced to countries with cheaper labor costs.

"The new law is a potential gold mine for Indian outsourcers and medical service providers," Medical Tourism Magazine writes.

Ambreen Ali writes for Congress.org.

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Moratorium Against Medicare Cuts Extended to Nov 30, 2010
by Uniformed Services Disabled Retirees on June 25

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