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News in brief - June 9, 2008

Medicaid funding cut rule blocked - Offset health IT costs with higher payments, ACP says

Medicaid funding cut rule blocked

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia temporarily has blocked a Bush administration rule limiting Medicaid pay for government-owned health care facilities to documented costs, instead of the broader cost-sharing that now occurs. The rule would reduce federal Medicaid funding by an estimated $5 billion over five years. U.S. District Judge James Robertson on May 23 vacated the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services rule, issued in May 2007.

CMS plans to republish the rule on Aug. 1 and still can implement it 60 days after republication, agency spokesman Jeff Nelligan said. "We remain convinced that the rule will ultimately be upheld on its merits by the judge," he said.

On the same day as the ruling, President Bush signed into law a military supplemental funding bill with a one-year moratorium on the Medicaid rule.

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Offset health IT costs with higher payments, ACP says

Physicians who adopt health information technology should receive higher payments to offset the cost, said the American College of Physicians in a May 16 position paper, "E-Health And Its Impact On Medical Practice."

"Widespread adoption and use of health information technology can positively affect access, care coordination, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes," said Joel S. Levine, MD, chair of the ACP Board of Regents. "Payment policy reforms, however, are necessary to appropriately compensate physicians for their investment in and implementation of e-health services."

The paper recommends that e-Health activities address the needs of all patients without disenfranchising financially disadvantaged people or those with low literacy or low computer literacy. It has recommendations on telehealth and e-visits, health Web sites and personal health records.

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