fortdixlover
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 1476
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 Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:12 pm Post subject: Prime example of John Kerry hypocrisy re: Big Business |
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If this better belongs under geedunk, please move it, but here's a prime example of John Kerry hypocrisy in favor of Big Business:
http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2006/08/wooden-headed-reimbursement-continues.html
Wooden-Headed Reimbursement Continues, and Medical Device Companies Celebrate
| Healthcare blog writer wrote: | A while back we summarized the perverse incentives caused by Medicare's current wooden-headed reimbursement schemes, and how they drive up the use of high-technology devices, regardless of their effectiveness, while ever constricting primary care, "cognitive" care, basic acute care, and mental health services.
Only a few days ago, stories appeared that the US Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was going to make drastic cuts in what Medicare pays for high-tech devices and procedures, inspiring the MedRants blog to hope that CMS really this time will be "fixing errors" in its payment system.
It took only days to dash that hope.
... The Boston Globe further documented the efforts to derail the cuts,
During the 60-day public comment period that ended June 12, Medicare logged more than 2,100 comments by e-mail and letter.
The chief lobbying group for the medical-device industry, Advamed, sent a 29-page letter to Medicare chief Mark McClellan urging him to delay the proposed changes or make them less severe.
Boston Scientific sent its own 26-page letter by courier, urging the agency to delay implementing the rule for at least another year, saying it 'will redistribute billions of dollars and could substantially alter clinical practices.'
Letters signed by more than 200 US representatives and senators, including Massachusetts Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, urged Medicare to delay the new rules till 2008 and phase them in gradually, saying 'the proposed rule may inhibit adoption of new technology.'
The Pioneer Press quoted Piper Jaffrey securities analyst Thomas Gunderson, "they didn't even back off - they folded."
... This story gives some insight into how wooden-headed perverse incentives are maintained. CMS, although it is a federal agency and so in theory supposed to operate for the good of all Americans, responded to comments that predominantly came from the big organizations, for-profit device makers and hospitals, which had been making plenty of money from the current reimbursement system from high-technology devices. Furthermore, members of Congress, including two Senators from an adjoining state who are well-known for their left-wing stances, were also happy to weigh in on the side of big for-profit medical device manufacturers. |
Kennedy & Kerry supporting the interests of the "little guy?"
Apparently not where their hearts - or pocketbooks - are concerned.
--FDL
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"Millions For Defense, Not One Cent For Tribute" - Thomas Jefferson on paying ransom to Muslim corsairs (pirates). |
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