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Democrats
Push For Sweeping Medicare Changes
The
Children's Health And Medicare Preservation (CHAMP)
Act, currently facing a vote in the House, features
a grab bag of Medicare proposals that showcase
Democrats' Medicare priorities, and could become
law soon:
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Beneficiaries
wouldn't have to pay 20-percent copayments or deductibles
for current or future preventive benefits. The bill
also specifies that colorectal cancer screening
tests never count towards the patient's deductible
-- even if your physician finds something, removes
some tissue or reaches a diagnosis.
-
Physicians
would no longer be able to own a stake in a specialty
hospital and refer patients to it. Congress would
abolish the "whole hospital" exemption,
which allows doctors to refer patients to a hospital
as long as they own a stake in the whole thing,
not just part of it.
-
Medicare
would have the authority to pay for new preventive
benefits without specific approval from Congress.
The U.S. Preventive Health Services Task Force would
have to recommend the preventive health benefits
for coverage.
-
The
copayment for mental health services would drop
from 50 percent to the standard 20 percent.
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Low-income
seniors would find it easier to obtain financial
help, especially with the Part D prescription drug
program. The CHAMP Act would expand the Low Income
Subsidy (LIS) and the Medicare Savings Program (MSP).
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You
might also receive some extra reimbursement for
helping your patients with Limited English Proficiency
(LEP), if you live in an area covered by a proposed
demonstration project.
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Provisions
benefiting rural areas would gain an extension,
including physician scarcity bonuses, and a geographic
"floor" that makes sure rural practices
don't earn less than the average for Medicare patients.
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