Fix Health Care Policy

Obama Administration Agrees: Florida Medicaid Reform Pilot Good for Patients and Taxpayers

Florida’s Medicaid Reform Pilot is pro-patient and pro-taxpayer, and the Obama Administration agrees.

In original research published by The Heritage Foundation and also submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) during the agency’s deliberations, I showed that the program’s patients are healthier and happier with their care and that Florida taxpayers saved more than $100 million each year of the program.

The Florida reforms work by giving patients a choice of the private health plan that works best for them. Enrollees can choose from plans with varied benefits and provider networks, and a monetary rewards system creates incentives for healthy, responsible behavior. By shifting away from failed policies of central planning toward a consumer-driven program, the program has been successful on a number of levels.

The waiver extension of Florida’s patient-centered Medicaid reform preserves the expanded choices, incentives for healthy behavior, and increased health services that pilot patients have enjoyed for years. Pilot patients have better health outcomes and report higher satisfaction rates with their plans, their care, and their access to specialists than their counterparts who are confined to traditional Medicaid and commercial HMOs.

The bottom line with Florida’s Medicaid Reform is that when the patient is the priority, government and HMO bureaucrats are finally held accountable. Costs flatten and patient health and satisfaction improves.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: Florida, Medicaid, ObamaCare, private health plan, reform, repeal the law

State Medicaid Reform That Works…If Washington Bureaucrats Will Allow It

As the fight continues against the one-size-fits-all changes enacted under Obamacare, some states continue to work on health care reform specific to the needs of their residents.

Florida is one such state. Its Medicaid Reform Pilot passed with bipartisan support in 2005 and has been implemented in five counties over the last five years. It has been a remarkable success, shifting a failing government health program away from the status quo of top-down micromanagement toward consumer-driven, patient-centered care.

In a detailed analysis written for The Heritage Foundation, Tarren Bragdon, CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Florida based think-tank, outlines the successes and difficult road ahead for the Florida Medicaid Reform Pilot. As he explains, the Reform Pilot provides an important example for state reformers because it includes such a large population of Medicaid recipients:  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: bureaucrat, Florida, Medicaid Reform Pilot, ObamaCare, Washington state

New, Useful Tool to Keep Up with the Health Care Lawsuits

Since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, states and individuals have been on the offensive against the new law and many are following in the footsteps of Virginia and Florida.

Obamacare is now being challenged by 20 different lawsuits with 21 different states as plaintiffs, but it is difficult to find all the different court documents and key arguments for the ongoing cases. The Independent Women’s Forum, a nonprofit group supporting limited government and economic freedom, has just launched a new Web site that will track the numerous ongoing court cases against Obamacare. Healthcarelawsuits.org provides easy access to the facts behind the different legal challenges to Obamacare. Obamacare is being fought on all sides, with states leading the legal battle. (more…)

Tags: Florida, Individual Mandate, interactive map, lawsuits, ObamaCare, repeal, Virginia

Side Effects: Floridians Will Lose Medicare Advantage

On the stump, Candidate Obama identified government entitlement spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security as the largest contributor to the federal deficit. If Congress doesn’t rein in the costs of these programs, he said,, these three programs will “consume all of the federal budget.”

Candidate Obama was right. (Still is: just check out The Heritage Foundation’s new 2010 Budget Chart Book.) Unfortunately, the President’s health care law will only exacerbate the entitlement crisis.

While Obamacare seeks some cost-savings (witness its ham-fisted treatment of popular Medicare Advantage plans), it does nothing to reform the overall structure of the Medicare entitlement. While the new law carves out $529 billion in Medicare “savings,” it calls for using those funds—and trillions more—to bankroll even more expansive health care entitlements. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis : “Instead of fixing the health care programs for seniors and those who cannot afford insurance, this law cuts Medicare and adds more people to the failing Medicaid system.” (more…)

Tags: 2010 Budget Chart Book, CMS, Florida, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, Seniors, Side Effects, Social Security

Guest Blogger: Thomas Perrin on Florida’s Possible Medicaid Waiver

In 2006, under former Governor Jeb Bush, Florida rolled out the most comprehensive Medicaid reform plan in the country. Studies from both The James Madison Institute and the University of Florida have shown these innovative reforms not only save money, but also improve the quality of care.

On Wednesday, the Florida Senate passed a proviso amendment to their 2010-2011 budget that would require the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to draft a new federal Medicaid waiver.

This new waiver, if accepted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), would essentially grant the state of Florida the ability to cap its Medicaid spending to the amount allotted by the state budget. The legislature would then be allowed to adjust optional eligibility groups and services depending on the amount appropriated. The waiver would also allow Florida to set up a voucher system where beneficiaries could purchase insurance products from private companies. Finally, the waiver would require higher-income Medicaid recipients to make coinsurance and deductible payments, but grant them incentives for efficiencies. (more…)

Tags: CMS, Florida, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, Gov. Jeb Bush, James Madison Institute, Medicaid reform, state budget

California Medical Association Latest State Group to Oppose ObamaCare

According to a Los Angeles Times blog, the California Medical Association, the state’s largest doctors group, this week stated its opposition to the health care bill currently being debated in the Senate. The second-largest state medical association said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s bill “would increase local healthcare costs and restrict access to care for the elderly and low-income patients,” the blog reported.

The California group is the latest state medical society or group to oppose ObamaCare, following strong opposition from the Florida Medical Society and Texas Medical Association. The Ohio State Medical Association and the Louisiana State Medical Society also came out against the House bill, H.R. 3962, which passed on a razor-thin 220-215 vote.

The California doctors group, which supports health care reform, in a press release charged that the Senate legislation “fails to fix major problems in Medicare and Medicaid.”

The LA Times blog notes:

“Doctors who oppose the Senate bill are concerned that it would would shift Medicare funding from urban to rural areas, move responsibility for Medicare oversight away from Congress by creating an Independent Medicare Commission and, ultimately, decrease Medicare reimbursement rates.”

Tags: California, Florida, Louisiana, Medicare, ObamaCare, Ohio, Sen. Harry Reid, state doctors groups, Texas

State Medical Groups Oppose ObamaCare

A growing number of state medical societies and groups are opposing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s 2,074-page health care bill and the 1,990-page bill that passed in the House. 

Just in the past week, the Florida Medical Association and the Texas Medical Association have separately said they would not support H.R. 3590, citing concerns that the legislation would increase government interference in health care decisions, expand the amount of red tape doctors face and raise health care costs for patients.

“The proposed Senate legislation contains many provisions that would undermine the patient/physician relationship and create even more access obstacles for Floridians,” the Florida medical group said in a statement.   

The opposition follows alarms raised by the Ohio State Medical Association and the Louisiana State Medical Society regarding the House bill, H.R. 3962, which passed on a razor-thin 220-215 vote.

In addition to state medical coalitions, larger physician groups like the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons have voiced their opposition to ObamaCare.

Tags: Florida, Louisiana, ObamaCare, Ohio, state medical boards, Texas