Medicare

The New South Wales and Victorian premiers are hoping Medicare reform will be top of the agenda at the upcoming national cabinet meeting on February the 1st ...

General Practice should be the first point of call for patients as it reduces overall pressure on the health system. We have a real opportunity now coming out of a one in 100 year pandemic to reform the health system." "We said at the election that there was no higher priority for Labor in the health portfolio than strengthening Medicare and rebuilding General Practice in particular, because the constant advice we've received across the country is that after 9 years of cuts and neglect to Medicare, it's never been harder to see a doctor and it's never been more expensive, with bulk billing rates in decline and with gap fees constantly going up than it is right now."

Anthony Albanese should hear out calls by state premiers for more federal GP funding. Then make it clear why he is not going to comply.

That demand is driven by need and not deterred, as the premiers argue, by the cost of seeing the doctor. But there he should lay down the law to premiers, and make it crystal clear that more GPs bulk-billing yet more services is no magic bullet panacea to their self-made political woes. State telephone triage services like Victoria’s Nurse on Call have also played a big role in advising and reassuring patients before they rush to an ED. And that doesn’t even guarantee that GPs will be there to meet demand. And it totally ignores the black economy: the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars misused by state-managed public hospitals billing Medicare for services they should be funding from their own operating budgets. Simply dangling higher Medicare rebates in front of GPs doesn’t guarantee they will always be there to provide round-the-clock services the premiers want. Reverting, post-COVID, to a federal-state funding split of roughly 40:60 ignores private patients in public hospitals providing a healthy revenue stream from several billion dollars of private health insurance subsidised by federal rebates. Initiated by Abbott when he was health minister, in a handshake deal with his then Labor counterpart in Western Australia, state-owned or supported GP clinics collocated with, or near, public hospital emergency departments have become commonplace. In 2021-22 there were 190 million GP Medicare-funded GP services, almost 90 per cent of which were bulk-billed. For Perrottet especially, this is imperative: facing a March election in which the NSW Coalition will struggle, he has to be seen to be doing something while, Harry-like, simplistically finding a scapegoat. Albanese’s fault, as the aged care system is a wreck. Albanese’s fault, as Medicare doesn’t pay GPs enough – even as the GP bulk-billing rate is well over 80 per cent.

Centene Corp. saw strong sign-ups in its Affordable Care Act marketplace business during the open enrollment period, while membership in its Medicare plans ...

Three men who owned and operated a Texas genetic testing laboratory have been charged in an alleged $107 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The men allegedly concealed the kickbacks through sham contracts for marketing and other services. The owners of the Lewisville, Texas-based Trinity Clinic allegedly acquired thousands of Medicare beneficiaries DNA specimen and corresponding prescriptions that the laboratory used to fraudulently bill the Medicare and Medicare Advantage for genetic testing, according to the release. John Grisham, 49, of Hickory Creek, Texas; Rob Wilburn, 51, of San Antonio; and Richard Speights Jr., 52, of Lake Charles, La., allegedly conducted the Medicare and Medicare Advantage fraud scheme between January and October 2019, according to a Jan.

No organization, including the federal government, directly 'markets' traditional Medicare, although commercial insurers sell supplemental Medigap and Part D ...

Around three out of ten in both coverage types relied on insurance agents and brokers (30 percent in traditional Medicare, 31 percent in Medicare Advantage). For example, insurers cannot compare their plans to other plans and must divide educational events from marketing events. The largest share of the records (27 percent) were from CMS. For example, CMS mails out a booklet each year to beneficiaries, State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) are federally funded organizations that help beneficiaries understand their benefits and Medicare plan options. Only seven percent of the advertisements were from CMS. No organization, including the federal government, directly ‘markets’ traditional Medicare, although commercial insurers sell supplemental Medigap and Part D plans for people in traditional Medicare.

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took a critical step to advance health equity and access to care, awarding the first 200 of 1,000 ...

“The majority of the positions are for primary care and mental health specialists, who are the foundation of our health care system. Supporting the training of new primary care and psychiatry residents demonstrates essential progress toward improving access to critical services, including those necessary to address the mental health crisis, in rural and underserved communities, as outlined in the Approximately three-quarters of the new positions will be for primary care and mental health specialties. “Prioritizing these awards to areas that need the most support will bolster the workforce while also arming new providers with a unique understanding of the specific needs of these communities,” said Dr. “This is critical in advancing our goals of providing high-quality care to all people.” In allocating these new residency slots, CMS prioritized hospitals with training programs in geographic areas demonstrating the greatest need for additional providers, as determined by [Health Professional Shortage Areas](https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area/hpsa-find).

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has awarded an initial 200 of 1000 Medicare-funded physician residency slots in qualifying hospitals authorized ...

The application period for the next round will open this month and close on Mar. Taking effect in July 2023, this round of residency positions awarded are to hospitals across 30 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Nearly three-quarters of the new positions will be allocated toward primary care and mental health specialties, according to the agency.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has awarded an initial 200 of 1000 Medicare-funded physician residency slots in qualifying hospitals authorized ...

The application period for the next round will open this month and close on Mar. Taking effect in July 2023, this round of residency positions awarded are to hospitals across 30 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Nearly three-quarters of the new positions will be allocated toward primary care and mental health specialties, according to the agency.