
| PPSV's Healthcare Reform Resource Center Please visit and bookmark this page for daily updates on the healthcare reform debate. Mar 1, 2010 Issue 230 In this issue, you'll find: White House Holds Healthcare Summit and Releases Outline of Legislative Proposal Physician Payment Cut To Go Into Effect; Lawmakers Talk of Delaying Cut After Deadline Passes PPSV Principal Gives Healthcare Presentations in February and March Top Story White House Holds Healthcare Summit and Releases Outline of Legislative Proposal But neither the White House nor Congressional Democratic Leaders have signaled that they will start over. To the contrary, parts of Obama's recent proposal could be used as an outline for an amendments package to pass through reconciliation in the Senate. This simple majority procedure has been a lightening rod for controversy, with Republicans arguing that it is a way to block them out of the debate. If the Senate were to pass the amendments package, the House could take up the amendments package with the Senate bill and pass both simultaneously. However, it is unclear how much support Obama's proposed compromises have in the House, and Democratic Representatives could fight for further changes before agreeing to pass the Senate bill. Whether or not Democratic lawmakers adopt the President's proposal as legislation still remains to be seen, and with each passing day pro-reform advocates worry that reform efforts would collapse. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has set a new completion deadline for Easter recess; Obama had hoped to sign healthcare reform legislation by the end of last year. Health Care News Physician Payment Cut To Go Into Effect; Lawmakers Talk of Delaying Cut After Deadline Passes Toward the end of February, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tried to gather support for unanimous consent to pass an "extenders" package through the Senate, but Republicans objected to the bill because it does not include pay fors. Despite the Senate's pay-as-you-go rules, the bill has been given emergency status so that it's provisions are not coupled with offsets. The legislation would have delayed the physicians payment cut for another month, and also included an extension for unemployment benefits and an extension for the Medicare caps exceptions process. The panel's findings are part of an ongoing investigation into Rangel's financial dealings. On Thursday, the panel released a report admonishing Rangel for trips he took to the Caribbean that were organized by the Carib News Foundation, which collected money from corporations to help pay for the trips. The report also stated that there was no evidence that Rangel knew that corporations financed the trips, although the information was known to some of his staff. The panel exonerated five other Congressional members in the investigation of the trips. Lawmakers during the hearing discussed potential certification requirements for operators of the machinery, reporting regulations for when a mistake is made and for fail safes to be installed in the machines. In related news, the Food and Drug Administration recently released interim recommendations to imaging facilities, radiologists and radiologic technologists regarding exposure to radiation during CT perfusion imaging of the brain. The recommendations are part of an ongoing investigation into cases of excess radiation during the imaging procedure.The interim recommendations apply to all CT perfusion images, including brain and heart. PPSV in the News PPSV Principal Gives Healthcare Presentations in February and March On February 11, Mr. Pyles gave a webinar presentation to the Iowa Medical Society entitled "Health Information Technology-Unknown Potential, Unlimited Liability" that addressed the emerging liability risks of electronic health information systems and how to minimize those risks. Mr. Pyles will be making a similar presentation on March 25 at the World Congress Conference on HIPAA and HITECH. Upcoming Events Wednesday, March 3 Payments for State Veterans Homes Thursday, March 4 Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Fiscal 2011 Budget Combating Health Care Fraud For More Information For further information on any topics discussed or publications listed, or to get copies of anything mentioned in this alert, please call (202) 466-6550 and ask for the Legislative Practice Group.
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