The New York Times, May 20th, 2010
The law will reduce payments to Medicare by $500 billion over the
next 10 years, and the cost will be paid for by reducing “waste and
fraud.” Does the law say how this will be done? — Bob Frishman
Although “waste” is a word open to interpretation, there are several
ways that the new health law will trim the Medicare program over the
next 10 years. One of the biggest — and most widely publicized — is a
reduction in payments to the Medicare Advantage plans that about a
quarter of Medicare beneficiaries belong to. The Congressional Budget
Office estimates that bringing the private plan payments into line with
those of traditional Medicare will mean a savings of $136 billion over
10 years. Consumer advocates and policy experts agree that the cuts
will lead to changes: some plans will likely shut down entirely, while
others may no longer offer some of the extras, like gym memberships or
vision and dental coverage, that they currently make available.
Roughly $200 billion will be cut by reducing payment increases to
hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and other providers, said
David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. Payment increases
will be tied to productivity and quality improvements. “We think these
cuts won’t harm the program,” he said.
There are several initiatives that are intended to fight Medicare
fraud and abuse, but they are not generally big-ticket items. They
include data-sharing arrangements to identify fraudulent providers more
effectively, increased background checks and a national provider
prescreening program. The law also requires providers and suppliers to
establish compliance programs and increases the penalties for filing
false claims.
The
