Health Health Innovations DatabaseThis week most members of the House and Senate are back in their districts or states meeting with constituents or otherwise conducting business there. A few have stayed in Washington to take part in hearings that are scheduled this week, although since many hearings are now held virtually, they do not necessarily have to be in Washington..Congressional Recess Continues as Election Nears.The good news is that key members of Congress now say they will push for surprise billing legislation to be part of the next bill that deals with the coronavirus emergency. … Continued
Health Reform Poll Finding Kff Health Tracking Poll March 2019President Obama signed it into law shortly thereafter, saying it will improve the Medicare program "because it starts encouraging payments based on quality, not the number of tests that are provided or the number of procedures that are applied, but whether or not people actually start feeling better." The law took effect immediately, and upon the bill's signing, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it had already begun reimbursing physicians at the full payment rate..The people who are not covered by hold harmless include higher income beneficiaries, beneficiaries who have not started Social Security yet and who pay for Medicare by check, and about 19% of beneficiaries whose incomes are so low that their state Medicaid program pays their Medicare Part B premiums on their behalf..According to the Federal Register "Amounts collected under section 1411 are not designated for the Medicare Trust Fund. The Joint Committee on Taxation in 2011 stated that's because No provision is made for the transfer of the tax imposed by this provision from the General Fund of the United States Treasury to any Trust Fund." … Continued