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What’s Next With Health Care (And Why This Process Was Madness)

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By MARIAN WANG

What’s Next With Health Care (And Why This Process Was Madness)

By MARIAN WANG

Sometimes things are a little clearer in retrospect. Now that health care reform has passed in the House, it seems there are two main questions in people’s minds:

  • What’s next?
  • Why, procedurally, was the legislative process so confusing and painful to watch?

Let’s answer that second question first. To help do that, we’ve drawn up some helpful infographics.

Exhibit A – How, originally, we thought health care legislation would play out procedurally. This is typically how proposed legislation is melded between the two houses.

Exhibit B – How things would’ve worked under “deem and pass [1],” or a self-executing rule. After questions were raised about the constitutionality of “deem and pass,” the House ended up not going that route.

Exhibit C – How it looks like it’s going to happen, after all.

In that last graphic, the yellow marker (5) is where we’re currently at. President Obama reportedly will sign the Senate bill on Tuesday [2], which means that part of health care legislation is law. The House-passed reconcilliation portion, consisting of 153 pages of “fixes” to the Senate bill (compare the two bills with our side-by-side comparison app [3]), will then move to the Senate (6), and if it passes, on to presidential sign-off (7).

As for the “What’s next” question, Kaiser Health News has a good list [4] of some of the provisions that will take effect in 2010. Most of the bigger changes that will affect millions don’t go into effect in 2014.

Marian Wang blogs for the ProPublica news service. This post first appeared on the ProPublica blog. You can write Marian Ma*********@********ca.org.

Rearranging Chairs

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By ROB LAMBERTS

Rob Lamberts seriousI have been asked by patients, readers, family members, and by fellow bloggers what I think about the bill  passed by the House of Regurgitants Representatives yesterday. I resent this. I have tried hard to remain neutral as possible, finding equal cause to point and sneer at both conservatives and liberals. It’s much more fun to watch the kids fight than it is to figure out which one is to blame.

But given the enormous pressure put on me by these people, as well as threatening phone calls from Oprah and Dr. Oz, I will give my “radical moderate” view of the HC bill. My perspective is, of course, that of a primary care physician who will deal with the aftermath of this in a way very few talking heads on TV can understand. The business of HC is my business, literally. So, reluctantly, I take leave of the critic’s chair and take on the position where I will be a target for any rotten fruit thrown.Continue reading…

The big question for what’s next

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By MATTHEW HOLT

It’s the morning after the big night. Soon all melodrama of the past 14 months will be forgotten, particularly the last 6 weeks (for which the current narrative is that Nancy Pelosi brought health care reform back from the ashes with an assist from Angela Braly and Anthem Blue Cross). In the end the current bill is probably better than the version that would have come from a 60 vote Senate win after conference as the abuses of the Cornhusker kickback and more would still be there. Given that the sticking points at the end were more about the irrelevancy of abortion than anything else, the more mainstream Democrats might be wondering whether this wasn’t a better way to do things in the first place, and therefore whether they couldn’t have got a public option through if the 51 vote reconciliation process was adopted earlier in the bill’s life.

But no matter, we’s got what we’s got. For now. And whatever happens I can’t see any way that this gets overturned—especially when people figure out what’s in the bill. More likely the subsidies get sweetened, and the holes in the coverage get filled.

So it’s almost time to turn our attention away from payment reform, to delivery reform. Now every time in the past that we’ve had reform or something approaching it, those organizations who have shaped themselves to operate in an environment that rewards cost-effective innovation have ended up losing their financial shirts. You can go back to Friendly Hills in the 1990s, or look at Intermountain and Virginia Mason more recently. (Which is why I’ve been ranting at Michael Porter & Elizabeth Teisberg for years)

Now as Maggie Mahar has trumpeted, there appear to be some serious provisions for pilots in Medicare payment and eventually changes to overall Medicare reimbursement. Ideas like accountable care organizations and more should start to become reality. But of course, these concepts will need considerable change on the provider side before they become reality.

So the big question for the health care system going forward is, if providers start making the changes that will promote more cost-effective care, will they be rewarded or will they be hung out to dry?

“I Am Not Bound To Win. But I Am Bound To Be True.”

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By MAGGIE MAHARPicture 25

So many said it would never happen. But now, on Sunday, March 21, 2010, it appears that reformers have the votes. Rep. Bart Stupak, the leader of the anti-abortion hold-outs, has announced that he will vote “yes.” – under the agreement, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order ensuring that no federal funding will go to pay for abortion under the health reform plan. This really doesn’t change anything. Stupak got nothing except face-time on television.

At last, Congress is about to take the first step toward transforming what we euphemistically call our health care “system.” In the years ahead, the laissez-faire chaos that puts profits ahead of people will be regulated, with an eye to providing affordable, evidence-based, patient-centered care for all.

Over the last three years, I have predicted that Medicare reform would pave the way for health care reform, and this bill makes that possible. Under the legislation, Congress will no longer be in a position to thwart Medicare’s efforts to rein in spending by eliminating waste. Not everyone is happy about this. Over at Politico.com former Republican Senator Bill Frist and former Democratic Senator John Breaux register their protest in a column titled “Keep Medicare in Congress’ Hands.”Continue reading…

Healthcare 2015

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By MICHAEL TURPIN

Michael turpin “This gets back to the fundamental lesson of political survival that Bill Clinton taught me, which is if you make it about the American people’s lives instead of your life, you’re going to be okay.” — Paul Begala

It’s March, 2015. Healthcare reform has now been active for over five years with the majority of reforms kicking in as of January 1, 2014. Several amendments have been proposed and passed in the interim period including the All-Payer Act normalizing reimbursement rates for hospitals between Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance.

The American Family Practice Reimbursement Act promulgated minimum reimbursement levels for primary care providers acting as part of accountable care organizations and included a package of incentives for medical graduates and nurse practitioners to practice primary care. A particular emphasis was paid to establishing federally qualified health centers in urban and rural areas where Medicaid statistics reveal high rates of chronic illness and minimal levels of compliance with requisite preventive care to arrest the erosion of chronically unstable patients into catastrophic illness.Continue reading…

The Tale of the Fancy Sea Creatures and the Pipes

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By ROB LAMBERTS

Once upon a time there was a land on the ocean. The people lived off of the food from the ocean and were very happy. But as they grew bigger, they had a problem: they made a lot of waste! Yuk! Nobody likes waste. What could they do about all of this that stuff that nobody liked?

Some said that they should find a way to make less waste. They said that the people of the land were not smart and should be making less waste. But most of the people in the land didn’t like to change what they were doing. It’s hard to change. So they built a large pipe that pumped the waste into the ocean.

The land was clean again and the people were happy!Continue reading…

The Vote is 6pm EST

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By MATTHEW HOLT

Just a quick note that the vote on the Health care reform bill is at 6pm EST tonight. It looks like the Stupak 6 (the anti-abortion Dems) have been persuaded that a Yes vote will be OK because Obama will issue an executive order later confirming the Hyde amendment which already bans Federal funding for abortions. So a small stupid policy stays in place so we can have a big social program pass.

But it’s certainly not confirmed that 216 is in the bag. I’m off skiing, so watch Jon Cohn on The Treatment and @jcohntnr on Twitter as I assume he’ paying attention!

A Culture of Fear and Intimidation: Reforming Medical Education

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By MAGGIE MAHAR

Even as we set out to reform U.S. health care, we continue to train medical students as if they were going to work in the old, broken system. Today, everything about medical education needs to be re-thought, from how we select students for admission to med schools to what we teach them about how to provide safe, patient-centered care.

A shocking new report from the  Lucien Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation reveals how today’s medical schools fail their students as it lifts the curtain on a culture of  “abuse, shame and blame”  that undermines professional morale, inhibits teamwork– and ultimately puts patient safety at risk.   (Thanks to Dr. Diane Meier for calling attention to this report on Twitter.)

“Achieving  safety in the work environment requires much more than implementing new rules and procedures,” the report observes. “It requires developing and sustaining  cultures of safety that engender trust and embrace reporting , transparency, and disciplined practices. It also requires anatmosphere of respect among the health care disciplines  and a fundamental ability of all practitioners to work together in teams.”

The white paper, entitled “Unmet Needs: Teaching Physicians to Provide Safe Patient Care”  was prepared by an  “Expert Roundtable on Reforming Medical Education” that included a broad array of medical education leaders, students, patients, representatives from key organizations, experts from related fields, and members of the Institute. The Roundtable met in extended in-depth sessions in Boston in October 2008 and June 2009 before reaching a consensus regarding the current state of medical education—and  what medical education should ideally become.

The Roundtable participants acknowledge that med school students frequently are abused and demeaned and that this behavior is widespread. Each year, the Association of American Medical Colleges conducts a survey of medical students asking questions such as have you been “publicly belittled or humiliated?”  From 2004 to 2008, 12.7%  to 16.7%  of students answered “yes,” with “female respondents reporting higher rates” of abuse. Most often, students were humiliated by clinical faculty and residents (66% and 67%, respectively), followed by smaller but significant percentages of nurses and patients.

Continue reading…

Could It Be That the System (Gasp) Works?

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By BOB WACHTER, MD

Picture 101 Heading into the final weekend of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, who could have guessed that in a year that brought us Death Panels, Pickup Trucks, “You Lie”, The Cornhusker Compromise, Bart Stupak (boy, that must have been a tough name to grow up with), and the Senate Parliamentarian-as-Rock-Star, we would be on the cusp of passing a perfectly acceptable healthcare reform bill, a once-in-a-generation legislative achievement.

Unmistakably, the mojo has shifted back to the Democrats – it is amazing how a dour and monolithic opposition can cause even Dems to unite for a common cause. Our President has also learned a few lessons, including the importance of symbols, populism, and singing with one’s diaphragm. (We knew we were in trouble a few weeks ago when Rahm started being criticized for not being sufficiently Machiavellian.) With yesterday’s CBO figures showing that the reform plan will save nearly $150 billion, even fence-sitting Democrats now see more political risk in saying No than Yes. That, of course, is the most relevant calculus, and with it more and more of the Blue Dogs are entering the Yes column each day.Continue reading…

Vote Yes

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By BRIAN KLEPPER & DAVID C. KIBBE

Brian-klepper One of us was at a local diner yesterday, when a good friend and health plan broker walked up to say hello. This guy delivers premium increases every day to employers, and understands how broken things are. “I hope Congress votes yes,” he said flatly. “We’ve got to finally move beyond the status quo and try to change the system.”

As conflicted as we are over it, we agree and we hope the reforms pass. The die is now cast, so there is no point in continuing to urge a different approach. As terribly flawed as it is on cost controls, the bill represents two very important things that, in our opinion, the nation desperately needs.

First, it will significantly open access, bringing America much closer to universal coverage and making personal financial distress a much less likely outcome of sickness or injury. As Nicholas Kristof pointed out Wednesday, that alone will dramatically improve the health of the nation. Widespread uninsurance and under-insurance have been a national disgrace for decades. Passing this bill would be a commitment to move beyond that shame.

Second, we believe the President is attempting to deal with many difficult problems thoughtfully and in good faith within an extremely toxic political environment. We want to see him succeed, because we think that his approach is good for America.

The bill is not what we hoped for. We’re disappointed in the behaviors of both parties. But after a year of wrangling, it is what is possible now. There is no reason the bill’s inadequacies can’t be revisited.

Continue reading…

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