Neurologists Seeking Bonuses Too
The American Academy of Neurology persuaded two senators to introduce legislation to make neurologists eligible for the 10% primary care incentive payments included in the health reform act. The bonuses are for doctors who provide at least 60% of their services to Medicare patients under evaluation and management codes. “The average neurologist meets the 60 percent threshold, but many in Congress either forgot neurology or thought it was a subspecialty of internal medicine!” Mike Amery, the academy's legislative counsel, wrote on the group's Web site. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the bill (S. 597), and the academy said it will encourage other senators to be cosponsors. Last year, the Congressional Budget Office calculated that adding neurologists to the incentive program would cost the government $300 million over 10 years.
Rep. Giffords Inspires Plea for Care
Members of Congress, led by the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), asked the Department of Health and Human Services to include rehabilitation for brain injury among “essential benefits” in health insurance regulations under the health reform act. Rep. Giffords is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head suffered while meeting with constituents. “Congresswoman Giffords was injured while she was on the job and her rehabilitation is covered by workers' compensation under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act,” Lauren Alfred, legislative assistant to Rep. Giffords, said in a statement. “Every American who sustains a traumatic brain injury deserves the exact same treatment.”
Bill Aims to Improve Helmet Safety
Reacting to recent reports of football head injuries, lawmakers have proposed legislation to improve helmet safety and reduce concussions in young players. “We want our children to be active and athletic, but in the safest possible circumstances right down to the helmets they put on their heads,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) in a press conference. “This bill is the logical next step in Congress's effort to protect our young athletes from brain injuries.” The Children's Sports Athletic Equipment Safety Act (H.R. 1127 and S. 601) would give the industry 9 months to improve its safety standards for youth and high school helmets before the Consumer Product Safety Commission would step in with its own requirements. The act also includes penalties on companies that make false safety claims.
Bill Focuses on Medicare Earning
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) have introduced a bill that would require the government to disclose what physicians earn from Medicare. The Medicare Data Access for Transparency and Accountability Act would keep patient information hidden. “Taxpayers should have a right to see how their hard-earned dollars are being spent,” said Sen. Grassley in a statement on the Senate floor. “Also, if doctors know their billing information is public, it might deter some wasteful practices and overbilling.” Medicare has been prohibited from making the data public since a 1979 court ruling. Physician organizations, most notably the American Medical Association, have also opposed the release of the data, citing doctors' right to privacy.
Medical Boards Fail on Discipline
State medical boards failed to discipline more than half of doctors who either lost their clinical privileges or had them restricted by the hospitals where they worked, according to a report from advocacy group Public Citizen. A total of 10,672 physicians were listed in the National Practitioner Data Bank as having restricted or revoked clinical privileges, yet 5,887 (55%) of them did not see any licensing action from their states, the group reported. Of those escaping licensing actions, 1,119 had been otherwise disciplined for incompetence, negligence, or malpractice, and 605 were disciplined for substandard care, the report said. Hospital boards had identified 220 of the otherwise unsanctioned doctors as “an immediate threat to health or safety,” according to Public Citizen.