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Agency Calls for Fee Efficiency
Medicare should review and possibly reduce fees when physicians provide multiple services to individual patients on the same day, the Government Accountability Office recommended. To date, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hasn't done enough to “reduce excess physician payments” reflecting efficiencies that doctors achieve when delivering multiple services. The GAO said that the CMS has reduced payments for some imaging and surgical services furnished together, but even those don't reflect physician time saved. “For example, when two services are furnished together, a physician reviews a patient's medical records once, but the time for that activity is generally reflected in fees paid for both services,” according to the GAO's summary of its report. Expanding payment policies designed to reflect multiple-service efficiencies could save more than $500 million each year, the GAO said.
Tobacco Makers Challenge Law
Five tobacco manufacturers, along with a retailer, have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of the new federal law that limits many forms of tobacco advertising. The plaintiffs chose the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky to argue that the law interferes with their First Amendment right to free speech. Lawmakers approved the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act last spring, setting new limits on tobacco promotion and giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. The law prohibits most color and images in advertising, mandates larger warnings on tobacco products, and bans ad campaigns aimed at underage smokers.
Heart Group Scorns Sugar
The American Heart Association has recommended that Americans drastically cut their intake of sugar to ward off obesity and related conditions. Survey results from 2004 showed that the average American consumed about 22 teaspoons, or 355 extra calories, per day of sugar added to food during processing or preparation—mainly in sugar-sweetened drinks. But the AHA said that men should consume no more than 9 teaspoons, or 150 calories a day, of this added sugar, while women should limit themselves to 6 teaspoons, or 100 calories. One 12-ounce can of soda contains about 8 teaspoons of sugar. In a “scientific statement” published online in Circulation, the AHA noted that limited clinical trial data link sugar consumption with obesity, but observational studies associate a higher intake of soft drinks with higher body weight.
Medical Groups Post Losses
Many physician groups that are part of large, integrated provider organizations are operating at a loss, according to the American Medical Group Association's 2009 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey. But losses for the doctors' operations do not necessarily mean that the larger organizations are losing money overall, Tom Flatt, AMGA director of communications and publications, said in an interview. “These large, integrated systems actually have revenues coming in from other parts of the organization, so they can stay afloat,” he said. In 2008, only physician groups in the Eastern United States broke even, while losses elsewhere ranged from $120 per physician in the South to $3,254 per physician in the North. AMGA blamed declining reimbursement, competition for specialists, and the cost of new technology for the physician group losses.
Supplement Maker Fined $70 M
In a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, a marketing group that used infomercials to tout calcium and herbal supplements as effective treatments for cancer, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, and autoimmune conditions has been ordered to pay about $70 million in consumer refunds. Last year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the companies and individuals involved in marketing the supplements had falsely represented their safety and efficacy. Judge George O'Toole considered potential financial penalties separately, and has now ordered the restitution in order to strip from the defendants all profits derived from the supplement sales. He also issued injunctions to prevent the defendants from making similar claims about other products.
Snapshot of Physician Patterns
Despite concerns about physicians' willingness to accept new patients from public programs, most U.S. doctors say they're doing so, according to a Center for Studying Health System Change survey. About three-quarters of physicians reported accepting new Medicare patients and more than half took new Medicaid patients. The public programs provided nearly half of physicians' practice revenue in 2008, according to the survey. Other findings from the snapshot of how physicians practice medicine: Nearly one-third work in solo or two-physician practices, and 15% are in groups of three to five physicians. The composition of the physician workforce by sex appears to be changing—while nearly three-quarters of U.S. physicians were men in 2008, about 41% of those under 40 years old were women.
Agency Calls for Fee Efficiency
Medicare should review and possibly reduce fees when physicians provide multiple services to individual patients on the same day, the Government Accountability Office recommended. To date, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hasn't done enough to “reduce excess physician payments” reflecting efficiencies that doctors achieve when delivering multiple services. The GAO said that the CMS has reduced payments for some imaging and surgical services furnished together, but even those don't reflect physician time saved. “For example, when two services are furnished together, a physician reviews a patient's medical records once, but the time for that activity is generally reflected in fees paid for both services,” according to the GAO's summary of its report. Expanding payment policies designed to reflect multiple-service efficiencies could save more than $500 million each year, the GAO said.
Tobacco Makers Challenge Law
Five tobacco manufacturers, along with a retailer, have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of the new federal law that limits many forms of tobacco advertising. The plaintiffs chose the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky to argue that the law interferes with their First Amendment right to free speech. Lawmakers approved the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act last spring, setting new limits on tobacco promotion and giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. The law prohibits most color and images in advertising, mandates larger warnings on tobacco products, and bans ad campaigns aimed at underage smokers.
Heart Group Scorns Sugar
The American Heart Association has recommended that Americans drastically cut their intake of sugar to ward off obesity and related conditions. Survey results from 2004 showed that the average American consumed about 22 teaspoons, or 355 extra calories, per day of sugar added to food during processing or preparation—mainly in sugar-sweetened drinks. But the AHA said that men should consume no more than 9 teaspoons, or 150 calories a day, of this added sugar, while women should limit themselves to 6 teaspoons, or 100 calories. One 12-ounce can of soda contains about 8 teaspoons of sugar. In a “scientific statement” published online in Circulation, the AHA noted that limited clinical trial data link sugar consumption with obesity, but observational studies associate a higher intake of soft drinks with higher body weight.
Medical Groups Post Losses
Many physician groups that are part of large, integrated provider organizations are operating at a loss, according to the American Medical Group Association's 2009 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey. But losses for the doctors' operations do not necessarily mean that the larger organizations are losing money overall, Tom Flatt, AMGA director of communications and publications, said in an interview. “These large, integrated systems actually have revenues coming in from other parts of the organization, so they can stay afloat,” he said. In 2008, only physician groups in the Eastern United States broke even, while losses elsewhere ranged from $120 per physician in the South to $3,254 per physician in the North. AMGA blamed declining reimbursement, competition for specialists, and the cost of new technology for the physician group losses.
Supplement Maker Fined $70 M
In a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, a marketing group that used infomercials to tout calcium and herbal supplements as effective treatments for cancer, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, and autoimmune conditions has been ordered to pay about $70 million in consumer refunds. Last year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the companies and individuals involved in marketing the supplements had falsely represented their safety and efficacy. Judge George O'Toole considered potential financial penalties separately, and has now ordered the restitution in order to strip from the defendants all profits derived from the supplement sales. He also issued injunctions to prevent the defendants from making similar claims about other products.
Snapshot of Physician Patterns
Despite concerns about physicians' willingness to accept new patients from public programs, most U.S. doctors say they're doing so, according to a Center for Studying Health System Change survey. About three-quarters of physicians reported accepting new Medicare patients and more than half took new Medicaid patients. The public programs provided nearly half of physicians' practice revenue in 2008, according to the survey. Other findings from the snapshot of how physicians practice medicine: Nearly one-third work in solo or two-physician practices, and 15% are in groups of three to five physicians. The composition of the physician workforce by sex appears to be changing—while nearly three-quarters of U.S. physicians were men in 2008, about 41% of those under 40 years old were women.
Agency Calls for Fee Efficiency
Medicare should review and possibly reduce fees when physicians provide multiple services to individual patients on the same day, the Government Accountability Office recommended. To date, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hasn't done enough to “reduce excess physician payments” reflecting efficiencies that doctors achieve when delivering multiple services. The GAO said that the CMS has reduced payments for some imaging and surgical services furnished together, but even those don't reflect physician time saved. “For example, when two services are furnished together, a physician reviews a patient's medical records once, but the time for that activity is generally reflected in fees paid for both services,” according to the GAO's summary of its report. Expanding payment policies designed to reflect multiple-service efficiencies could save more than $500 million each year, the GAO said.
Tobacco Makers Challenge Law
Five tobacco manufacturers, along with a retailer, have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of the new federal law that limits many forms of tobacco advertising. The plaintiffs chose the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky to argue that the law interferes with their First Amendment right to free speech. Lawmakers approved the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act last spring, setting new limits on tobacco promotion and giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. The law prohibits most color and images in advertising, mandates larger warnings on tobacco products, and bans ad campaigns aimed at underage smokers.
Heart Group Scorns Sugar
The American Heart Association has recommended that Americans drastically cut their intake of sugar to ward off obesity and related conditions. Survey results from 2004 showed that the average American consumed about 22 teaspoons, or 355 extra calories, per day of sugar added to food during processing or preparation—mainly in sugar-sweetened drinks. But the AHA said that men should consume no more than 9 teaspoons, or 150 calories a day, of this added sugar, while women should limit themselves to 6 teaspoons, or 100 calories. One 12-ounce can of soda contains about 8 teaspoons of sugar. In a “scientific statement” published online in Circulation, the AHA noted that limited clinical trial data link sugar consumption with obesity, but observational studies associate a higher intake of soft drinks with higher body weight.
Medical Groups Post Losses
Many physician groups that are part of large, integrated provider organizations are operating at a loss, according to the American Medical Group Association's 2009 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey. But losses for the doctors' operations do not necessarily mean that the larger organizations are losing money overall, Tom Flatt, AMGA director of communications and publications, said in an interview. “These large, integrated systems actually have revenues coming in from other parts of the organization, so they can stay afloat,” he said. In 2008, only physician groups in the Eastern United States broke even, while losses elsewhere ranged from $120 per physician in the South to $3,254 per physician in the North. AMGA blamed declining reimbursement, competition for specialists, and the cost of new technology for the physician group losses.
Supplement Maker Fined $70 M
In a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, a marketing group that used infomercials to tout calcium and herbal supplements as effective treatments for cancer, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, and autoimmune conditions has been ordered to pay about $70 million in consumer refunds. Last year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the companies and individuals involved in marketing the supplements had falsely represented their safety and efficacy. Judge George O'Toole considered potential financial penalties separately, and has now ordered the restitution in order to strip from the defendants all profits derived from the supplement sales. He also issued injunctions to prevent the defendants from making similar claims about other products.
Snapshot of Physician Patterns
Despite concerns about physicians' willingness to accept new patients from public programs, most U.S. doctors say they're doing so, according to a Center for Studying Health System Change survey. About three-quarters of physicians reported accepting new Medicare patients and more than half took new Medicaid patients. The public programs provided nearly half of physicians' practice revenue in 2008, according to the survey. Other findings from the snapshot of how physicians practice medicine: Nearly one-third work in solo or two-physician practices, and 15% are in groups of three to five physicians. The composition of the physician workforce by sex appears to be changing—while nearly three-quarters of U.S. physicians were men in 2008, about 41% of those under 40 years old were women.