Rick Holmes: The Bay State health reform model Oct 26, 2009
It would go after the fee-for-service payment system that rewards providers for prescribing more tests and treatment, regardless of whether they are needed or successful. Replacing fee-for-service with a "global payment system" would be "enormously complicated," Widmer said, and in a recent editorial board meeting in Framingham, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said we shouldn't be expecting action on the recommendation any time soon ... Reforms of "fee-for-service" have been negotiated down to a few... (Wakefield Daily Item, MA)
Single-payer proponents say state health care system 'broken' Oct 24, 2009
Gov. Deval Patrick has said he expects legislation enshrining such a system to be ready by the end of the month, and stakeholders from across the health care system voiced conditional support for ending the state s current fee-for-service model. Noting that the commission report sounded the alarm about soaring health care costs, Rep. (Arlington Advocate, MA)
Lewis: Next phase of healthcare reform in Massachusetts Oct 24, 2009
This panel concluded that the current fee-for-service payment system is a primary contributor to escalating costs and uneven quality ... Under the current fee-for-service system, doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers are compensated for each test and procedure they perform ... We heard testimony from many experts including doctors, nurses, hospital executives, healthcare policy specialists, advocacy groups and others who almost universally support the commission s recommendation to... (Stoneham Sun, MA)
Canexus Income Fund Announces Third Quarter Results Oct 23, 2009
Canexus also provides fee-for-service hydrocarbon transloading services to the oil and gas industry from its terminal at Bruderheim, Alberta. Canexus targets opportunities to maximize unitholder returns and delivers high-quality products and services to its customers. (CCNMatthews Press Releases)
Tort reform wont cut health care costs Oct 19, 2009
In lieu of redundant and ineffectual tort reform, we can increase access to care and bring down costs by eliminating the fee-for-service payment model and by instituting the "public option" - Medicare for those under 65 - which will bring down premiums by eliminating marketing and administrative costs and by competing with private insurers. A study published just last month in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 73 percent of physicians nationwide favor a public insurance option for... (The Pantagraph newspaper)
Containing costs key to health care reform Oct 19, 2009
wants to get rid of the Medicare fee-for-service model that pays doctors and hospitals by volume of services rather than care aimed to keep patients healthy. Fee-for-service is widely blamed for the mediocre quality and exorbitant costs of U.S. health care ... Kind has wrung from House leaders a promise to include a provision that would assign the Institute of Medicine, an independent research group, to find an alternative to fee-for-service payments in Medicare, and allow the administration to... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Medicare Advantage changes hit 2,500 Franklin County seniors Oct 17, 2009
Also, insurers are getting ready to phase out fee-for-service plans under federal orders and migrate customers to managed care plans. Aetna also intends to add customers from the plans exiting Ohio, he said. (Columbus Business First, OH)
Medicare backs off on order about lobbying seniors Oct 17, 2009
THE POLITICS: Medicare Advantage is part of Medicare, but is an alternative to the traditional fee-for-service program that covers most beneficiaries ... Federal subsidies to the companies providing Advantage plans average about 14 percent higher than those involved in traditional fee-for-service coverage. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
Healthier outlook in Adirondacks Oct 13, 2009
Second, the initiative includes global payments to help doctors coordinate care, alert patients when they are due for checkups, and encourage electronic tracking of patients -- activities that are not reimbursed under traditional fee-for-service care. And third, doctors must show they are improving the health of their patients by hitting specific benchmarks. (Albany Times Union)
Tangled web of interests dot long road to health payment reform Oct 12, 2009
If there was one area of agreement, it was that the state s current fee-for-service system, which reimburses health care providers for each procedure, regardless of outcome, is inefficient and ripe for change ... I don t see it, except for the reform of getting away from fee-for-service. (Dover Sherborn Tab, MA)
Brooks: Few choices remain on health reform Oct 11, 2009
We need to transition away from a fee-for-service system to one that directs incentives toward better care, not more procedures. We need to move away from the employer-based system, which is eroding year by year. (Sacramento Bee -- Opinion)
Knotty issues ahead for insurance overhaul Oct 9, 2009
The Finance Committee bill gives some protection from the proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage plans in certain parts of the country where Medicare Advantage is less costly than the traditional fee-for-service Medicare. But more battles are likely ahead on Medicare Advantage. (MSNBC -- Politics)
Hospitals attack statepay proposal Oct 4, 2009
A 10-member commission, which included key legislators and members of Patrick s administration, recommended in July that private and public insurers largely scrap the current fee-for-service system in which insurers pay doctors and hospitals a negotiated fee for each procedure or visit - a system that is widely viewed as encouraging unnecessary and uncoordinated care. Instead, the commission recommended that insurers pay providers predetermined, per-patient annual fees, called global payments,... (Boston Globe)
Military Update: 'Small' inpatient fee hike of 21% seen as broken promise Oct 3, 2009
TRICARE Standard is the militarys fee-for-service insurance option. The inpatient cost share for retirees under age 65 and their family members was increased to $645 a day from $535. (Hanford Sentinal, CA)
Cover all Americans Oct 2, 2009
Factors include a fee-for-service Medicare system that financially rewards volume over quality; pharmaceutical companies and others marketing directly to consumers, who then ask doctors for the newest treatments; and employer-provided health insurance plans that can shield patients from much of the cost of the care they consume. President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that rising health. (Fresno Bee -- Opinion)
Health care in Massachusetts: a warning for America Oct 1, 2009
Costs have risen so much that a special state commission has recommended eliminating fee-for-service medicine, instead paying physicians and hospitals a single annual fee to cover all of a patient's needs for that year in other words, rationing. Despite raising state taxes, the Massachusetts plan is kept afloat only by hundreds of millions of dollars of financial waivers and assistance from the federal government i.e., by the taxpayers of the other 49 states. (Christian Science Monitor)
Cure for insurance claims: avoidance Oct 1, 2009
She has enough insurance to cover a catastrophic illness, but for routine care, she's now going to that nearby fee-for-service medical office where Jones works. "It's seamless," Yogan said. (CNN)
Health care issues: Overutilization of care Sep 26, 2009
Factors include a fee-for-service Medicare system that financially rewards volume over quality; pharmaceutical companies and others marketing directly to consumers, who then ask doctors for the newest treatments; and employer-provided health insurance plans that can shield patients from much of the cost of the care they consume. President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that rising health costs must be checked, but any attempt to rein in care faces resistance. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- World)
Finance directors attempt to calculate impact of property tax initiative Sep 25, 2009
Just The Tip wrote on Sep 24, 2009 5:46 PM:" Perhaps the various county agencies should institute a fee-for-service if this thing passes. Call a cop? Fee. Call 911? Fee. Call the Fire Dept? Fee. Walk around the lake? Fee. Park on Commerce Ave? Fee. Visit the library? Fee. Water line breaks? Fee. Etc., etc., etc. ". PakrBakr wrote on Sep 24, 2009 6:02 PM:" I don't want to hear any of you people carping when your local governments come back and say that they'll be shutting down parks, closing... (Longview Daily News, WA)
A tussle over Medicare Advantage Sep 25, 2009
Medicare Advantage plans provide benefits, such as vision and dental care, which go beyond those covered under the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program ... The commission said that this year the government will pay about $12 billion more for enrollees of Medicare Advantage plans than it would if they were in fee-for-service Medicare. (MSNBC -- Health)
ALAN H. PIERROT: Broadening the health care reform debate Sep 24, 2009
Change fee-for-service to fee-for-outcomes. We should establish bonuses for quality; encourage Accountable Care Organizations that integrate physicians, hospitals and others around achieving quality and cost reduction targets. (Fresno Bee -- Opinion)
Profile - Chris Cuffe Sep 23, 2009
The group's financial planners mainly charge on a fee-for-service basis but other parts of the group, such as insurance products, still have commissions attached. Cuffe disagrees with ASIC's recent submission against charging fees as a percentage of funds under management. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Budget chief contradicts Obama on Medicare costs Sep 23, 2009
Finance Committee aides emphasized that core Medicare benefits wouldn't be cut because the plans are required to offer the benefits available under traditional Medicare fee-for-service coverage. Federal subsidies to private Medicare plans average about 14 percent higher than those involved in fee-for-service coverage. (WCAX.com, VT)
Pro & Con: Should liability damage caps be a part of health care reform? Sep 22, 2009
They do so because the fee-for-service structure set up by the health insurance industry actually encourages doctors to order them. The more tests and procedures doctors perform, the more they get paid. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
A step to manage health costs Sep 19, 2009
These individuals are enrolled in a fee-for-service plan, called the Primary Care Clinician plan ... It also would appear to support the efforts of the Commonwealth s Payment Reform Commission to move away from fee-for-service reimbursement arrangements ... Dismantling the Commonwealth s fee-for-service Primary Care Clinician plan and moving all recipients of full Medicaid benefits to a managed care model would do just that. (Boston Globe)
Senate health care plan a 'building block' Sep 17, 2009
The largest would come from reducing payments to Medicare health maintenance organizations that are paid more than traditional fee-for-service plans. Medicare: Creates a commission, appointed by the president, that would recommend changes to Medicare in years when cost growth is projected to be unsustainable. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Politics)
A must for health care reform: End fee-for-service medicine Sep 12, 2009
Search Type Choose a search type from the items below. Christian Science Monitor. (Yahoo News)
WHIP COUNT: DEMS LACK THE VOTES... Sep 10, 2009
" (Kristen McQueary, Dodge In, Halvorson On The Defensive, The Southtown Star, 8/20/09) Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN): Said This Morning He Would Not Vote For The Health Care Reform Bill In Its Present Form. Congressman Baron Hill said this morning he would not vote for the health care reform bill in its present form, primarily because he believes it lacks effective health care cost controls. There are seven of us blue dogs on the committee opposed to the bill in its present form, Hill said.... (The Drudge Report)
Docs’ orders where costs escalate Sep 9, 2009
However, as Gruber correctly points out, in our fee-for-service system, doctors tend to recommend and, therefore, to provide more services than their counterparts in other countries. Undoubtedly, some of those services are of marginal value and, under different circumstances, might not be recommended. (Boston Globe -- Editorial)
The crisis of health care reform Sep 9, 2009
Aggressive cost control options squeezing Medicare fees even further, abandoning fee-for-service in Medicare entirely, restricting unnecessary procedures through an all-powerful medical board, putting more cost burdens on individuals tend to be frightening or difficult. Major tax increases would lessen the need for drastic cost reductions. (Orangeburg Times and Democrat, SC)
Suspicions About Health Care Predominate at Warner Town Hall Sep 4, 2009
The former governor and wealthy telecommunications executive laid out his three principles for health care reform: that no bill can add to the deficit, that costs must be lowered, and that the fee-for-service structure governing how health providers are paid must be overhauled. Warner discussed his opinions on what measures should be included in health care reform legislation broadly, but was not specific on some of the most contentious issues dividing Democrats and Republicans in the House and... (Roll Call)
Walker: It’s Time to Change Course Sep 4, 2009
Reducing health care costs will require some unpopular, but necessary, choices, such as moving away from fee-for-service payment systems, reducing tax preferences for employer-provided health care and decreasing taxpayer subsidies to middle- and upper-income individuals who voluntarily enroll in Medicare s Part B (physician payments) and Part D (prescription drugs). It will also require adoption of evidence-based practices, procedures and treatments that have proven cost effectiveness,... (Roll Call)
Lieberman: 'Significant' Health Care Reform Possible This Year Sep 3, 2009
"Are we going to hold out for everything...or are we going to try to get a lot done in terms of health care reform?'' he asked. So, in Lieberman's estimation, what is possible this year? Insurance market reforms, such as barring insurers from blocking coverage to those with pre-existing medical conditions. And changes in the health care delivery system to a model that encourages collaboration among doctors and discourages a "fee-for-service" approach. Also, medical malpractice reform. Lieberman... (FOX61, CT)
Huckabee: ObamaCare would have abandoned Kennedy Aug 30, 2009
Today about four-fifths of Medicare recipients receive care under an unrestricted fee-for-service program: They go to providers for care, and the government pays most of the bills, almost no matter how high they mount ... In Ryan s proposal, unlike the 2003 Republican plan, new retirees would not even have the option of buying into traditional fee-for-service Medicare once the voucher system is implemented; Medicare as it now exists would disappear once the last retirees still eligible for it... (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
'Tort reform' a clever distraction Aug 30, 2009
They do so not for fear of lawsuits, but because the fee-for-service structure actually encourages them to. In other words, the more tests they perform, the more they get paid. (The Augusta Chronicle)
Docs, hospital execs on reform Aug 28, 2009
As long as you pay fee-for-service, you re going to get exactly the kind of delivery system you have. You re not going to get the kind delivery reform unless you change the payment. (Denver Business Journal, CO)
Guest Column: Let's Not Sacrifice Freedom of Choice Aug 28, 2009
The specialists that are primarily procedure-based (such as surgeons) would continue on a fee-for-service basis or could be integrated into care delivery package fees that would be paid as one sum to hospital-physician partnerships. Finally, hospitals would negotiate regional rates for care delivery with the insurance companies and would be spared the government mandated pricing, which is often below costs. (Missourian Publishing, MO)
How tuned in are Newton residents? Aug 27, 2009
When I was a contractor for the Dept. of Public Health rather than an employee, which I was for four years, it would probably have made quite a bit of difference because at that point I had to go out on the fee-for-service economy to buy health care. It cost my wife and myself about $13,000 a year for health insurance, which is more money than we really wanted to spend, more money than we had to spend anyway. (Newton Tab, MA)
Obama tops list of most powerful in healthcare Aug 25, 2009
A number of provisions in the forthcoming bill are expected to drive down health care costs, such as moving providers away from fee-for-service to bundled payments, establishing a system of value-based purchasing and creating so-called accountable-care organizations, a model that lets hospitals and physicians share joint responsibility for the quality and cost of care delivered to patients. Mr. Baucus, who's now in his sixth term, is probably going to be the most influential member in... (Crain's Chicago Business)
Is VA pushing vets to accept death? Judge for yourself Aug 25, 2009
An answer came in 2003, when the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a study that compared veterans health facilities on 11 measures of quality with fee-for-service Medicare. On all 11 measures, the quality of care in veterans facilities proved to be significantly better. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
Mr. Market Chokes on Obama-Style Health Care: Caroline Baum Aug 25, 2009
Medicare, for example, has used a fee-for-service model since its inception in 1965. It encourages volume (more tests, procedures, surgery) over results, rewarding incompetent doctors and bad hospitals, according to , a psychiatrist and philosopher on the faculty at the University of California at Los Angeles. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
Some patients must move to keep 'Prime' coverage Aug 24, 2009
Without Prime, the family would have to rely on TRICARE Standard, the military's more costly fee-for-service insurance option. Many families who received these letters did get a waiver. (NJ.com -- Times)
Don’t abandon ‘public option’ without benefits in return Aug 23, 2009
The most successful function like nonprofit health-maintenance organizations with networks of providers who emphasize preventive care and don t engage in the over-utilization of tests and procedures common among providers working on a fee-for-service basis. Such cooperatives resemble the accountable care organizations that a Massachusetts commission on health-payment reform recently recommended as an alternative to fee-for-service medicine here. (Boston Globe)
Stormy forecast Aug 23, 2009
Numerous people have observed that reimbursing health care providers on a "fee-for-service" basis -- separate payments for each service provided -- encourages providers to prescribe unnecessary treatments. Others have claimed that health insurance itself, by allowing individuals to purchase health services at a fraction of their cost, leads to overuse. (Albany Times Union)
UK SYSTEM: 45,000 'health' workers call in sick every day ... Aug 20, 2009
" You bet it is! No apologies required, either. Get over it, and get a life, sport! Osamas Pajamas on August 20, 2009 at 07:41 AM After time, most people build up immunities to common diseases that make most other people sick. Therefore, they tend to get sick less often. Who legitimately gets a cold/flu that cumulatively lasts nearly 11 days/year? Reality on August 20, 2009 at 07:28 AM I wonder how many Americans who insult nationalized (not socialized) medicine have researched it beyond what... (The Drudge Report)
Obama Endorses Socialized Medicine! Aug 19, 2009
and the to exceed in quality the care available to paying customers in more authentically American private-sector fee-for-service hospitals. The VA hospital system's mere existence is an affront to everything true patriots hold dear. (Slate)
Cost shouldn't determine quality of care Aug 18, 2009
The general idea is that the current fee-for-service system should be replaced with a "global payment system" which pays doctors a lump sum per patient (based on age) per month to coordinate a patient's care, coupled with incentives that will be based on some measure of "quality outcomes" and/or cost savings ... While it sounds perfectly reasonable to pay doctors based on quality outcomes, rather than on a fee-for-service basis, I fear that the incentives will undermine the trust that is at the... (Albany Times Union)
Hard decisions needed on health care costs Aug 17, 2009
Many physicians are reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis that rewards us for doing more procedures and ordering more tests (especially if we own the testing equipment). Although no ethical doctor would say she lets reimbursement influence her medical decisions, no honest doctor would deny that it has some effect on how she manages her practice. (Anchorage Daily News)
Sick of business as usual Aug 17, 2009
Unhappy with the current fee-for-service health care model, Doucette decided not to complete a medical residency program. Instead, he founded ModernMed in March 2007. (Milwaukee Business Journal, WI)
Health costs Aug 16, 2009
Doctors in public hospitals are salaried whilst those in private hospitals are paid on a fee-for-service basis ... In private hospitals and outpatient clinics, patients pay the amount charged by the hospitals and doctors on a fee-for-service basis. (BBC News -- Health)
Now comes hard part Aug 15, 2009
Several studies of health care costs - and of health insurance premiums - lead back to fee-for-service payment arrangements and the culture that has formed around it. The fee-for-service system rewards volume and speed over care and quality, and sometimes pays physicians more to test and treat sick residents than it does to keep them healthy ... But, the fee-for-service system is what we know, and that counts for a lot in a state that leads the world in medical knowledge. (Boston Globe)
Obamacare vs. Harry's Evil Mongers Aug 15, 2009
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), improper payments in the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FSS) and Medicare Advantage programs were estimated to be $17. 2 billion for fiscal year 2008, the report said. (Human Events Online)
Health Care Reform Advocates Look to Kaiser Model For Clues Aug 14, 2009
The theory is that they have no financial incentive to order extra tests and procedures, as they would under a fee-for-service model. Backers also point to Kaiser's extensive system of electronic medical records, which lets the company track which treatments and procedures work best, helping physicians better serve patients. (Investors Business Daily)
Newsweek: Can we afford Obama's health care plan? Aug 11, 2009
Fee-for-service medicineMedicare's dominant form of paymentis outmoded. The more doctors and hospitals do, the more they get paid. (MSNBC -- Health)
5 reasons behind soaring health costs Aug 11, 2009
Your doctor is paid for how much he does for you not for how well he cares for youUnder the fee-for-service model that most health insurance plans use, physicians make more money with every office visit and procedure they do. That gives them a built-in financial incentive to push for more, though not necessarily better, health care, says award-winning journalist Shannon Brownlee, author of "Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer.". (MSNBC -- Health)
Health care plan's big price tag a concern Aug 10, 2009
He blames the rapid rise in health care costs, in part, on "the insidious nature of fee-for-service medicine," which moved out of hospitals in the 1980s into outpatient services, but also on the "anomaly" of tying health care benefits to employment, a unique feature of the U.S. system. "Most people think this system is inefficient because you lose your coverage when you lose a job," he said. (Florida Today)
'SAVING' AT AMERICANS' EXPENSE Aug 10, 2009
The House bill also would cut Medicare benefits by cutting payments to traditional fee-for-service providers. The cuts to providers will leave even more doctors reluctant to take on new Medicare patients, and force hospitals to increase what they charge people with private insurance. (New York Post -- Opinions)
Dems Wrestle with Choices over Public Plan Aug 8, 2009
This competition, the thinking goes, would drive insurers to demand that medical providers find more cost-effective ways to deliver care, leading to innovations and the spread of well-integrated networks of salaried physicians in place of the costly fee-for-service approach that predominates today ... Reformers say that the Medicare link is needed at the outset to get the new public option off the ground quickly but that the House bill would allow the government to set public option... (CBS News -- US)
When the truth won’t stop health reform, try lies Aug 8, 2009
That special legislation is needed to make sure doctors get paid for them merely underscores the flaws in the current fee-for-service system. Only in the fevered imaginations of diehard health reform foes is this a mainline to mercy killing. (Boston Globe)
Canadian health model delivers despite flaws Aug 6, 2009
And perverse incentives like fee-for-service make things even worse. Using techniques like those championed by the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement, providers can eliminate most delays. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
The Wrong Cure Aug 5, 2009
Massachusetts currently has a fee-for-service system, which gives doctors an incentive to order more tests, which cost more money ... In nonprofit HMOs with a fee-for-service plan, doctors have an incentive to do more. (Slate)
Cigna cuts 60 jobs in Nashville Aug 5, 2009
Now they re focusing on private fee-for-service Medicare plans. We ll continue to have a very large presence. (Nashville Business Journal, TN)
Why Don’t We First Do What Works? Aug 2, 2009
The current Medicare fee-for-service system needlessly increases health care costs and produces poor outcomes for chronically ill beneficiaries because it provides fragmented, volume-driven care that is usually activated only when people are sick enough to go to the emergency room and hospital ... A July 25 letter from the CBO noted that if health reform is to reduce health care costs, it must move away from the fee-for-service system, establish explicit, feasible savings goals, and share... (Roll Call)
Did Warren Burger Create The Health Care Mess? Jul 30, 2009
Although traditional economic theory holds that competition drives prices down, in medicine competition had tended to drive prices up as doctors explored new avenues for profit, most typically through fee-for-service. It's easy to shrug at such things and say, "That's capitalism." But, in fact, market-driven medicine didn't exist a generation ago, because the American Medical Association didn't allow it. (Slate)
Liberal Dems best take this health-care deal Jul 29, 2009
The bills do not specifically rule out fee-for-service plans as options to be offered through the exchanges ... So patients would be inclined to game the system, staying in the HMO while they re healthy and switching to fee-for-service when they become seriously ill ... That would kill fee-for-service in a hurry, says Goodman. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
