CMS releases funding application for uncompensated care AND- California Healthline highlights recent editorial, opinion pieces addressing ballot measures to fund Emergency Care

[CAL/AAEM News Service]

CMS releases funding application for uncompensated care

September 1, 2004


The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today put on display at the
Federal Register an application for providers who wish to take part in a
program that offers reimbursement for care provided to undocumented immigrants.
The voluntary program, established as part of the Medicare Modernization Act,
begins in Fiscal Year 2005, and would require providers to ask patients their
immigrant status to qualify for the funds. Specific guidelines on patient
documentation and payment methodology have yet to be released by CMS. The
application can be found at  www.cms.hhs.gov/regulations/pra/


Source: AHA News Now (www.ahanews.com)


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California Healthline Highlights Recent Editorial, Opinion Pieces Addressing Ballot
Measures To Fund Emergency Care

September 8, 2004
 

An editorial, opinion piece and letter to the editor recently addressed
Proposition 67, a measure on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot that would add a 3%
surcharge to residential telephone bills to fund hospital emergency services
and training. The measure would generate an estimated $550 million annually
(California Healthline, 8/16). Summaries are provided below.


Editorial

Sacramento Bee: Proposition 67 "throws money" from an "utterly unrelated
source" at the "serious hole" in hospital budgets from uncompensated care,
"rather than targeting funds effectively," according to an editorial in the
Bee. The editorial states that although the tax "would help cover the lion's
share of the unpaid bills," the funds generated by the measure "could be spent
a whole lot more wisely." The editorial asks how state officials would decide
"what's the fair compensation" for hospitals and doctors and how they would
"confirm that none of the providers actually got paid directly by the patient
or some insurer." The editorial concludes that the "cavalier" measure should be
rejected (Sacramento Bee, 8/31).


Opinion Piece

Dr. Michael Sexton, Sacramento Bee: More than 80% of California emergency
departments post losses, and Proposition 67 would keep such losses from
"killing the system" by keeping EDs open; retaining hospital staff; supporting
clinics for nonemergency care; training first responders; and upgrading the 911
response system, Sexton, an emergency physician and president-elect of the
California Medical Association, writes in a Bee opinion piece. Sexton writes
that the Bee's editorial on the initiative "is wrong" because it does not
address provisions of Proposition 67 to target funds based on care delivered
and to provide for audits and penalties for doctors who double-bill. Sexton
concludes that medical responders and providers "who see firsthand the threat
to public safety from the crisis" in the emergency care system support the
measure because they see it is "essential to maintain emergency medical care in
California" (Sexton, Sacramento Bee, 9/7).


Letter to the Editor

Jack Lewin, San Jose Mercury News: ED care for the nearly seven million
uninsured state residents is the primary cause for the more than 65 ED closures
in California over the past decade, Lewin, CEO of CMA, writes in a letter to
the editor. Lewin writes that Proposition 67 is a "better solution" that would
"ensure that [EDs] stay open and high-quality lifesaving care remains available
to all Californians." Lewin concludes, "[T]here is no other alternative. Let's
pass Proposition 67" (Lewin, San Jose Mercury News, 9/1).
The ballot title and summary for Propositions 67 is available online at
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/bp_nov04/public_display/10_pub_dsply_prop_67a.pdf   Note:
You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to access the summary.


Source: California Healthline (www.californiahealthline.org)


=====
Cyrus Shahpar & Brian Potts 
Managing Editors, CAL/AAEM News Service 
UC-Irvine



	
		
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