News in brief - March 21, 2011

Mandatory spending will surpass total revenues in 2016

The Congressional Budget Office expects health entitlements and other mandatory spending programs to start surpassing federal revenues in five years.

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, other health programs, defense spending and net interest will exceed 18% of gross domestic product in 2016, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said March 7 during a presentation to the National Assn. for Business Economics. Projected revenues during that year would just cover the costs of those programs.

"Fiscal policy cannot be put on a sustainable path just by eliminating waste and inefficiency; the policy changes that are needed will significantly affect popular programs or people's tax payments, or both," Elmendorf said.

The Medicare program represented 23% of total mandatory spending in 2010, and Medicaid and other health programs made up 15%.

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Medicare retools online enrollment for doctors

The online system physicians use to enroll in the Medicare program was upgraded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in January, the agency announced.

A health care professional now can track an enrollment application made through CMS' Internet-based Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System, known as PECOS. The new application status module on the website shows when a physician's application was received and reviewed by a Medicare contractor, and if the application was returned, approved or rejected.

Also, physicians now have 15 days to submit the paperwork required once they sign up under PECOS. Previously, the agency required submission of supporting documents within seven days.

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Judge halts Medicaid hospital pay freeze in California

A federal judge temporarily has blocked a planned Medicaid payment rate freeze for California hospitals until after a lawsuit filed against the freeze is settled.

The California Legislature in October 2010 froze inpatient Medicaid payment rates for hospitals to save state funds and restructure Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid system. The freeze applied to contracted and noncontracted hospitals and was set to take effect Feb. 1.

The California Hospital Assn. sued the California Dept. of Health Care Services to stop the freeze, claiming the move violated federal law. The hospital association received a restraining order that halted the freeze's implementation.

On March 4, Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted the hospital association's motion for an injunction against the state. He banned enforcement of the freeze until after the lawsuit is decided or an agreement is reached by both parties.

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