The co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction have announced that the committee has failed to come to an agreement on a deficit reduction strategy.  The bi-partisan, bicameral committee, formed by the Budget Control Act, was charged with reducing the national deficit by at least $1.2 trillion.

The committee’s failure to reach an agreement means automatic spending cuts totaling $1.2 trillion, to be split between defense spending and non-defense programs, will become effective in January 2013.  Under this across-the-board cut, hospitals face a 2 percent reduction to Medicare payments over nine years (2013 to 2021).  Medicaid cuts are, however, exempt from the cuts.

Congress will now take the time to determine the next steps for deficit reduction.  Some are calling for the cuts to be repealed or delayed further, though the president has already threatened to veto any attempts to do so as a means to encourage continued Congressional action on deficit reduction.

IHA strongly opposes the cuts to hospitals as not only are they incredibly arbitrary, but hospitals have already committed to more than $155 billion in Medicare cuts to help finance the health care reform law.  By simply piling on more and more cuts, hospitals are finding themselves unable to expand critical services and are unable to create jobs with so much financial uncertainty, adding additional pressure to the economy.  IHA will continue to work with Iowa’s Congressional Delegation on this issue.

Iowa News

Harkin welcomes Supreme Court review of health care law
U. S. Sen. Tom Harkin issued a statement praising the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review challenges to the Obama administration’s landmark health care reform law and voiced confidence that its constitutionality will be upheld. (Des Moines Register)

Skiff nurse earns prestigious medical certification
Christine Hinshaw, a registered nurse in the Skiff Medical Center obstetrics department, has been named an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), an accreditation that places her with a select number of breastfeeding experts, with less than 100 in the state of Iowa. (Newton Independent)

Quad Cities congressmen slam leadership over supercommittee failure
Quad-City area lawmakers took a bipartisan approach Monday to the congressional supercommittee’s failure. Their verdict: The congressional leadership, including their own, let the country down. None of the lawmakers representing the Quad-Cities was on the 12-member supercommittee, but they all may have to deal with the fallout from voters next year. (Quad City Times)

National News

Supercommittee announces failure in effort to tame debt
A special congressional committee created to try to curb the national debt abandoned its work and conceded failure Monday, the latest setback in a long effort by Washington to overcome ideological differences and stem the rising tide of red ink. (Washington Post)

Local California Republicans Quietly Embrace Medicaid Expansion
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the number three Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, has a very clear record on the Affordable Care Act. He has repeatedly called for its defeat and was one of the co-sponsors of the January repeal measure that easily passed the House but died in the Senate. (Kasier Health News)

The conservative case for healthcare reform’s individual mandate
The Supreme Court will rule next year on the constitutionality of the healthcare reform passed in 2010. But constitutionality notwithstanding, Republican opposition to the new law has been vigorous and consistent. In recent GOP presidential debates the candidates have been unanimous in condemning it, in particular objecting to the requirement that almost all Americans obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. (Los Angeles Time)

Hospitals try to find savings, cut unnecessary care
At five Bon Secours Health System hospitals on the East Coast, giving fewer blood transfusions during heart surgeries has had some counterintuitive results: Not only did costs fall, but care improved, officials say. (USA Today)

The committee is nearly assembled with 9 of the 12 members having been announced.  From the Senate leaders selected Democrats Patty Murray (WA), Max Baucus (MT), John Kerry (MA) and Republicans Jon Kyl (AZ), Pat Toomey (PA) and Rob Portman (OH).  In the House: Republicans Jeb Hensarling (TX), Dave Camp (MI) and Fred Upton (MI) were nominated to serve.  House Democrats have not yet been selected, and must do so by August 16.

Once finalized, the committee will begin its work looking for spending reductions.  The commission must agree upon an adequate level of savings by November 23 when it will then seek support of the full Congress.  Congress must vote to approve the cuts by December 23 in order for the debt ceiling to be raised again.  However, should the committee fail to agree on cuts or successfully sell their proposal to Congress, then an automatic across-the-board cut will go into effect.  This would trigger an automatic $1.2 trillion cut to the federal budget.  Medicare cuts would be capped at 2 percent and Medicaid would be exempted from the cuts.

IHA continues to monitor the ongoing work in Washington, D.C. hospital advocates should stay tuned to the IHA Policy Blog for continuing coverage as more details unfold.

This week the so-called “Gang of Six” released a new proposal that is gaining traction.  Members include Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Warner (D-VA).

Their plan to seeks to reduce national deficit by nearly $4 trillion over 10 years and proposes billions in cuts from Medicare and Medicaid.  A few of members of the Gang of Six have yet to formally sign off on the framework but President Obama, after reviewing the proposal, added his support saying that proposal is on the right track concerning this issue.

The proposal seeks a two-part process with $500 billion in initial cuts followed by a process for congressional committees to pass a larger deficit reduction measure within 6 months.  Committees would be responsible for finding additional discretionary cuts and $800 – $900 billion in entitlement savings, as well as $1.1 trillion in new revenues.

The plan is unlikely to emerge in the short-term discussion of how to address the debt ceiling by August 2, though it could set up a series of short-term extensions giving Congress time to work on a larger measure.

The proposal comes on the heels of a party-line vote in the House this week on the bill referred to as the “cut, cap, and balance” legislation.  The 234-190 vote was backed by the freshmen “tea-party” caucus, even though it’s been widely reported that the legislation is dead on arrival in the Senate and faces a White House veto.

IHA has issued a series of Action Alerts urging Congress to protect hospital payments under Medicare and Medicaid as negotiations continue:

Prospective Payment System Hospitals – Take Action Here
Critical Access Hospitals – Take Action Here
Rural Prospective Payment or “Tweener” Hospitals – Take Action Here

Iowa News

Iowa Senate approves Medicaid spending plan
The Iowa Senate has approved a measure that calls for spending $1.1 billion on Medicaid, a program shared with the federal government that provides health care for poor and elderly people. (KGAN-TV)

Community gathers for KRHC
The open house was supposed to start at 5 p.m., but by 4 p.m. people were already lining up for tours of Kossuth Regional Health Center’s expansion. Others were gathered behind the hospital for games, balloons, pony rides and a barbecue. (Algona Upper Des Moines)

Focus on Improving Patient Care Motivates Hospital to Upgrade Electronic Health Record
For Cass County Memorial Hospital, electronic health records are nothing new. The 25 bed critical access hospital in Atlantic, Iowa has had a system in place since 1995. Initially, the system was designed for nursing notes and ambulatory order entry. Now, the process is underway to upgrade to the latest and most robust meaningful use certified version of their EHR, bringing state of the art technology to the hospital. (IowaHITREC News)

2 named to UI Health Care posts
Two new administrators have been named to help run operations for University of Iowa Health Care, officials announced Wednesday.  (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Trinity breaks ground on new Cancer Center

Dozens of guests arrived in mild rain under a gray evening sky Wednesday to applaud the groundbreaking of Trinity Regional Medical Center’s new Cancer Center. (Fort Dodge Messenger)

National News

Condition Gray: Inside the hospital as the Joplin tornado hit
Looking back, they remember the quiet — like a last, deep breath before death. In the nursery of St. John’s Regional Medical Center, newborns napped in bassinets. Ventilators hummed in an intensive-care unit. (Kansas City Star)

HHS Scales Back Rules On Health Insurance Appeals
The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it is scaling back some of its earlier rules under the 2010 health law that governed consumers’ right to appeal denials by health plans, disappointing patient advocates and earning praise from industry groups. (Kaiser Health News)

Attorneys argue in NJ court over constitutionality of federal health care reform law
A federal appeals court hearing arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of last year’s U.S. health reform law focused primarily on whether plaintiffs need to demonstrate they are suffering economic harm now or will when the part of the law mandating that everyone have health coverage takes effect. (Washington Post)

Doc shortage fuels hospital-physician employment agreements
As the national physician shortage continues, hospitals are grasping for physicians and hanging onto them with employment arrangements, according to a white paper by consulting firm Deloitte. (Fierce Healthcare)

AMA, others advise HHS to clarify meaningful use regs
A collaborative of seven organizations, including the American Hospital Association (AHA), American Medical Association (AMA) and the Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS), has proposed changes to clarify and streamline the process of achieving meaningful use objectives. (CMIO)

“This National Prevention Strategy, called for under the Affordable Care Act, will help us transform our health care system away from a focus on sickness and disease to a focus on prevention and wellness,” said Secretary Sebelius.  “We know that prevention helps people live long and productive lives and can help combat rising healthcare costs.”

Senator Harkin said of the plan, “I applaud the hard work and collaboration of the Surgeon General and representatives of the 17 Federal departments and agencies that comprise the National Prevention Council.  After many years of advocating for wellness and prevention, I am thrilled that public health and health promotion are at the very heart of the historic Affordable Care Act – and also at the heart of the work of so many of our federal agencies.  This coordinated approach will have a dramatic impact on the health and wellness of the American people.”

According to a summary of the plan, the council made recommendations to help increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life.  The National Prevention Strategy recognizes that good health comes not just from receiving quality medical care, but also from clean air and water, safe work sites and healthy foods.

“Helping Americans live more healthful lives is a top priority for the Obama Administration,” said Melody Barnes.  “The National Prevention Strategy is a road map to help us achieve that goal, and will help public and private partners come together to build healthier communities using evidence-based strategies that we know work.”

The strategy outlines four strategic directions:

• Building Healthy and Safe Community Environments:  Prevention of disease starts in our communities and at home; not just in the doctor’s office.
• Expanding Quality Preventive Services in Both Clinical and Community Settings: When people receive preventive care, such as immunizations and cancer screenings, they have better health and lower health care costs.
• Empowering People to Make Healthy Choices:  When people have access to actionable and easy-to-understand information and resources, they are empowered to make healthier choices.
• Eliminating Health Disparities: By eliminating disparities in achieving and maintaining health, we can help improve quality of life for all Americans.

Iowa News

Iowa state government will keep running July 1, Branstad insists
Gov. Terry Branstad assured Iowa citizens Tuesday that the full spectrum of state services will continue uninterrupted under his broad emergency powers should he and the Legislature fail to have a new state budget plan approved and signed by July 1. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

County departments prep for a shutdown
Layoffs are part of Johnson County contingency plans in case state legislators don’t approve a budget by June 30 and cause a government shutdown.  Members of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors met with department heads during a meeting Tuesday to discuss the effects of and possible plans for a shutdown. (Iowa City Press Citizen)

Clinton woman saved by timely screening
LouAnnda Larson may owe her life to her aching feet. The 55-year-old mother of three grown children had long suffered from foot pain that requires her to use a wheel chair to move any more than short distances. In October 2010, she traveled to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to determine the cause and possible treatments for her foot pain. Doctors performed a comprehensive physical exam that included a fecal occult blood test. The test results showed traces of blood in her stool. (Sioux City Journal)

New Crawford County Memorial Hospital to complete move, officially open June 27
The new, state-of-the-art Crawford County Memorial Hospital located at 100 Medical Parkway in Denison will open to the public on Monday, June 27.  The moving process to transfer furniture and equipment to the new building will begin on Thursday, June 23. (SW Iowa News)

National News

Senate budget chairman says $2 trillion not enough
The debt-reduction package emerging in talks between the White House and congressional leaders would not “fundamentally change” the alarming rate of growth in the national debt, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee said Tuesday.  Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said the goal of slicing more than $2 trillion from the federal budget by 2021 falls far short of the savings needed to stabilize borrowing, reenergize the economy and avert the threat of a debt crisis.  (The Washington Post)

Hospital vs. medical center: Consumers favor ‘hospital’ title
When it comes to choosing a name—“hospital” or “medical center”–consumers prefer “hospital,” according to survey released today by Rivkin & Associates LLC and Bauman Research & Consulting LLC, both based in Glen Rock, N.J. Consumers tend to associate hospitals with more services, better care, new medicine, and expert physicians, compared to medical centers’ offerings. (Fierce Healthcare)

Health IT Can Energize National Prevention Strategy
The Obama Administration has made several health IT-related recommendations in its National Prevention Strategy that call for expanded use of electronic health records (EHRs), social media tools, and mobile phone applications to help promote health and wellness.  (InformationWeek)

National Library of Medicine  Launches Medline Plus
The National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library and a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has formally launched MedlinePlus Connect. This free service allows health organizations and health information technology (HIT) providers to link patient portals and electronic health record (EHR) systems to MedlinePlus.gov, a trusted source of authoritative, up-to-date health information for patients, families and health care providers. MedlinePlus brings together information from NIH, other federal agencies, and reputable health information providers. MedlinePlus covers a wide range of health conditions and wellness issues, and includes key resources to inform patients about their health. (Cypress Times)

Medicare Advisory Group Urges Closer Look at Costs for MRIs, CT Scans
A 17-member independent advisory group has urged Congress to get tough on doctors who order too many diagnostic imaging tests for Medicare patients. These tests include MRIs and CT scans, which the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) says are driving up the cost of health care for America’s seniors. (PBS)

AP Exclusive: Medicaid For The Middle Class?
President Barack Obama’s health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed. (NPR)

Iowa News

Senate Democrats say budget agreement near
Senate Democrats say they have agreed to Republican demands to limit state spending to $5.9 billion and approve a two-year budget. The Democrats announced their agreement Monday at a Statehouse news conference. Party leaders say a bill fleshing out the budget will move through a committee later in the day and will be debated in the full Senate on Tuesday. (Iowa City Press Citizen)

Levees holding firm in Siouxland, but rain likely coming
Sunday was another day with 150,000 cubic feet per second Missouri River releases from Gavins Point Dam at Yankton, S.D., another day where the river stayed in the mid-33-feet stage in Sioux City and another where levees withstood it at various spots along the river. (Sioux City Journal)

Fighting Cancer for Dad
Two Washington High School students are making a difference in the lives of children battling a deadly disease. (KCRG)

National News

Many hospitals overuse double CT scans, data show
Hundreds of hospitals are routinely performing a type of chest scan that experts say should be used rarely, subjecting patients to double doses of radiation and driving up health-care costs. The government is taking a closer look at scans because imaging tests are among the fastest growing procedures in health care. (The Washington Post)

Mass burial honors those who gave bodies to science
Hundreds of Maryland residents every year — whether by design or circumstance — had their bodies turned over or given to the state anatomy board for science. They will share a final resting place, cremated and placed under a single grave marker in a field at the Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville.  (The Baltimore Sun)

Goodbye Clipboard, Hello Patient Palm Scanning At NYU
Patients at NYU Langone Medical Center no longer have to fill out the dreaded clipboard with their medical history or insurance data each time they come in for care because the Manhattan academic medical center has switched to palm recognition technology to identify and authenticate its patients.  (InformationWeek)

Obama administration to stop new waivers for healthcare overhaul
The Obama administration on Friday said it would stop granting new waivers to the healthcare overhaul in September following sharp opposition from Republicans who cited the waivers in their bid to undermine the law. (The Wall Street Journal)

Iowa News:

Covenant Cancer Treatment Center wins grant
The Covenant Cancer Treatment Center has been named a winner in the Livestrong Community Impact Project. It was one of many agencies or medical centers to receive funding from the Lance Armstrong cancer foundation.  Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids and the YMCA in Des Moines also were awarded funds. (WCF Courier)

House passes ‘omnibus’ budget; lawmakers cranky
There were strong signs Wednesday as House Republicans passed a so-called omnibus budget bill that Iowa’s legislative divide was only getting wider. Those signs included sharp accusations from Republicans that Democrats weren’t negotiating in good faith. (Des Moines Register)

Dennis Hunger new CEO at Washington County Hospital and Clinics
Washington County Hospital and Clinics announces   Dennis Hunger as the new chief executive officer  at Washington County Hospital and Clinics.  (The Kalona News)

National News:

Judges sharply challenge healthcare law
Skeptical questions from three federal judges in Atlanta suggest they may be ready to declare unconstitutional all or part of the healthcare law promoted by the Obama administration and passed last year by Congress.  (Los Angeles Times)

Panel endorses delay of stage 2 meaningful use to 2014
A panel developing clinical and process measures for meaningful use endorsed the delay of stage 2 for one year until 2014. As a result, providers will have three years through 2013 in which to verify that they have met stage 1 meaningful use requirements.  (Government IT)

Is Social Networking Changing the Face of Medicine?
The reaction to the 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations that women in their 40s did not need routine mammograms was swift and furious. Using email, social networking sites and electronic bulletin boards, breast cancer survivors vented their outrage.  (Yahoo! News)

CMS extends application deadline for ACO pioneer project
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Wednesday it will extend the deadline for accountable care organizations that want to apply to be Pioneer ACO models. CMS officials said they are looking for advanced ACO programs to lead the way for ACO development nationwide.  (Healthcare Finance News)

Iowa News

All Iowa hospitals sign on to effort to prevent errors
Iowa is the first state in which every hospital has joined a national effort to cut medical errors and reduce the number of patients readmitted for follow-up care, health care leaders said Tuesday. (Des Moines Register)

FMCH Auxiliary announces its scholarship winners
Fort Madison Community Hospital Auxiliary selected three recipients for their 2011 Scholarship awards. This scholarship provides funds to students pursuing a career in any medical field. Scholarship recipients were chosen on grades, character, community and school activities and financial need. (Fort Madison Daily Democrat)

UIHC works to improve patient satisfaction
Walking into a hospital can be a scary experience for any patient, especially at a large institution such as the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. That’s why officials are trying to stop the image of the hospital as a cold, unpleasant place that Theresa Brennan, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine and director of clinical cardiology at UIHC, said has been present since she started working at the hospital 10 years ago.

National News

Blue Shield of California to cut many premiums 2.5% this year
Health insurer Blue Shield of California, under fire for a series of recent rate hikes and the pay of its chief executive, plans to cut this year’s premiums by 2.5% for many of its 3.3 million policyholders as part of a new initiative to hold down costs. (Los Angeles Times)