T-minus 14 days until the end of the legislative session and one of the largest and most controversial pieces of legislation has moved with almost no media attention. The promises for the new cost containment/ payment reform bills (or … [Read more...]
House Bill on Payment Reform
The House version of payment reform creates a new mega agency, the Division of Health Care Cost and Quality. To be fair, the House collapses a few other state agencies into the new Division, but there is no question this entity is … [Read more...]
Feds Flushing Away Health $ and Increasing Deficit
GAO (Government Accountability Office) released a report on the failings of the fraud and abuse system for Medicaid or Medicare. The study was requested by Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown (R) and Delaware Senator Thomas Carper … [Read more...]
Beacon Hill’s Budget MassHealth Mirage
Today the Legislature will vote on the final state budget. I wanted to take one last opportunity to highlight the unrealistic assumptions that are being used for the MassHealth (Medicaid) program. If the state is unable to achieve these … [Read more...]
Is Medicaid (MassHealth) Preventing the Poor from Breaking out of Addiction?
Lawrence Harmon of The Boston Globe had a very interesting article that highlights the intersection of medicine and public policy. The issue was the debate whether MassHealth, our state’s Medicaid program, should move to pay for Suboxone … [Read more...]
Gov. Patrick’s Regulatory Regime for Payment Reform
The Legislature held a hearing on the Governor's proposal to change the payment methodologies for the delivery of health care yesterday. Full Written Testimony is on the Pioneer Blog. Pioneer was there, summary below: The … [Read more...]