June 12, 2020
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Senator Bill Cassidy medical price arbitration bill answers surprise medical billing dilemma
Washington, D.C. is in fourth, or is it, fifth
stimulus deal-making mode, and as is usually the case, many of these
“must-pass” funding laws end up being littered with policy riders and
extra-special appropriations designed to sweeten the pot for reluctant
legislators.The issue of surprise medical billing falls into this
category. House Democrat Energy and
Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (NJ) has told the Progressive Caucus that
forcing a one-sized fits all cost for medical services across the nation sets
the stage for socialized medicine, aka Medicare for all. The good news is that
Senator Bill Cassidy, (R-LA) has a different, smarter draft bi-partisan
legislative approach which takes the patient out of the middle of billing
disputes, creating an arbitration process which allows the two sides to present
their cases and come to fair and honest payments. If a provider didn’t provide
the service, they don’t get paid. If the
charges for the service are userous, they don’t get paid, but honest and fair
payment amounts will be determined and paid. With more than 1/5 of the Senate
already on board as co-sponsors, the concept put forth by Cassidy, a physician
by trade, is a credible alternative to the House Democrats pathway to
socialized medicine alternative. Until Congress finally deals with the knot
Obamacare has tied our nation’s health care system into, the Cassidy
legislation provides fair pricing protections for both health providers and
insurers.
Cartoon: Changing of the Guard
Defund the
police finds an alternative.
As protests continue, states reopen and testing increases, confirmed COVID cases see uptick
As nationwide
protests and occasional riots continue in response to the murder and manslaughter
of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, states
reopen and the amount of testing continues to increase, some states are
experiencing an increase in the number of daily confirmed cases of COVID-19. States
currently seeing upticks in daily new confirmed cases since the death of Floyd
on May 25 include Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Mississippi, New
Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington, or
almost 25 percent of all states. That is to say, that while almost every state
is entering various stages of reopening, only about a quarter of them are
seeing a significant increases in cases. The rest have either a somewhat steady
rate or continue to see a declining number of cases. So too are protests
occurring in states across the country. Many states like Minnesota, Illinois
and Pennsylvania that saw large protests are still seeing the number of cases
decline daily. Other states, like New York and New Jersey, which were the
hardest hit, continue to see cases decline overall, but because they were the
hardest hit, had the most testing devoted to it. In New York City, an 8 p.m.
curfew was established to curb rioting. And mass production of testing for
COVID-19 continues to roll out nationwide.
President Trump and the nation need Russ Vought at OMB
Americans for
Limited Government President Rick Manning: “With a projected budget deficit of
$3.7 trillion for 2020, Russ Vought is the right person to be heading up the
Office of Management and Budget. Russ’
focus on fiscal sanity and ensuring that all the extra hundreds of billions of
dollars now being devoted to the pandemic response, including payroll
protection, are being properly allocated is essential to protecting taxpayers’
interests. In addition to his commitment to protecting the Treasury from
profligate spending, Russ Vought has played a crucial role in analyzing
regulatory relief measures to ensure that they met the President’s and our
nation’s needs. With President Trump seeking to further streamline government
to ensure that our economy is jump started and recovers rapidly from the
economic COVID catastrophe, our nation cannot afford to train someone in this
crucial position. It is clear that at this time in history, America needs Russ
Vought’s expertise and priorities in the lead at the OMB. Americans for Limited
Government urges a yes vote on Russ Vought’s nomination for Director of the
Office of Management and Budget.”
Senator Bill Cassidy medical price arbitration bill answers surprise medical billing dilemma
By Rick Manning
Washington, D.C. is in fourth, or is it, fifth stimulus deal-making mode, and as is usually the case, many of these “must-pass” funding laws end up being littered with policy riders and extra-special appropriations designed to sweeten the pot for reluctant legislators.
The issue of surprise medical billing falls into this category. House Democrat Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (NJ) has told the Progressive Caucus that forcing a one-sized fits all cost for medical services across the nation sets the stage for socialized medicine, aka Medicare for all. Given the focus that Democrats have had on federalizing our nation’s health care system for decades, it should come as no surprise that the planned failure known as Obamacare would help create the surprise billing problem due to mandated costs with restricted payments for health insurance companies.
Pallone is not wrong that by creating a universal health care rate Congress would eliminate one of the largest barriers to socialized medicine, but beyond that, his surprise medical billing legislation is also distinctly bad policy, as medical care costs differ from area to area meaning that one-sized fits all rates will harm patients where medical costs are highest by denying them ready access to care.
One reason that the issue is likely to be at least discussed during this next Congressional spendarama is that President Trump recently urged Congress to come up with a solution to prevent patients and their families from receiving medical bills that they thought insurance covered. What he left wide open was how should these disputes be decided between health care providers and insurers?
The problem is that currently health insurers simply deny payments for health services or significantly reduce the amount they are willing to reimburse, leaving the remainder to the patient. While this works great for health insurance companies burdened by costly Obamacare mandates, it harms the very health care providers who have been on the front lines for the past three months.
And while the President has put a spotlight on the surprise medical billing problem, just making it impossible for a health provider to send an unpaid bill to patients effectively puts all the power in the hands of the health insurers who seek guaranteed profit levels.
And, House Democrats, led by Pallone, are pushing hard for implementation of the one-sized fits all rate-setting system putting medical pricing decisions in the hands of unelected Washington, DC bureaucrats.
The good news is that Senator Bill Cassidy, (R-LA) has a different, smarter draft bi-partisan legislative approach which takes the patient out of the middle of billing disputes, creating an arbitration process which allows the two sides to present their cases and come to fair and honest payments. If a provider didn’t provide the service, they don’t get paid. If the charges for the service are userous, they don’t get paid, but honest and fair payment amounts will be determined and paid.
With more than 1/5 of the Senate already on board as co-sponsors, the concept put forth by Cassidy, a physician by trade, is a credible alternative to the House Democrats pathway to socialized medicine alternative. Until Congress finally deals with the knot Obamacare has tied our nation’s health care system into, the Cassidy legislation provides fair pricing protections for both health providers and insurers.
Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
To view online: http://dailytorch.com/2020/06/senator-bill-cassidy-medical-price-arbitration-bill-answers-surprise-medical-billing-dilemma/
Cartoon: Changing of the Guard
Click here for a higher resolution version.
As protests continue, states reopen and testing increases, confirmed COVID cases see uptick
By Robert Romano
As nationwide protests and occasional riots continue in response to the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, states reopen and the amount of testing continues to increase, some states are experiencing an increase in the number of daily confirmed cases of COVID-19.
States currently seeing upticks in daily new confirmed cases since the death of Floyd on May 25 include Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington, or almost 25 percent of all states.
That is to say, that while almost every state is entering various stages of reopening, only about a quarter of them are seeing a significant increases in cases. The rest have either a somewhat steady rate or continue to see a declining number of cases.
So too are protests occurring in states across the country. Many states like Minnesota, Illinois and Pennsylvania that saw large protests are still seeing the number of cases decline daily. Other states, like New York and New Jersey, which were the hardest hit, continue to see cases decline overall, but because they were the hardest hit, had the most testing devoted to it in the first place. Additionally, in New York City, an 8 p.m. curfew was established to curb rioting.
And mass production of testing for COVID-19 continues to roll out nationwide.
So, what’s going on? Are we experiencing a resurgence or another outbreak of the pandemic associated with reopening and/or the large gathering protests? Is testing still catching up to the true rate of infection in many states?
Certainly there are likely a combination of factors, but a prominent one still appears to be testing. For example, in Texas, the Texas Tribune reports that prisoners with reported infections has increased from 2,500 to 6,900 in the two weeks as prisons began reporting testing.
In other words, the more tests you do, the more infected patients you will find, but that does not necessarily mean the true number of cases is still rising. But it does mean we still need better surveillance.
In addition, if seasonality plays any role — a recent study from the Netherlands awaiting peer review suggests that increased pollen helps explain seasonality for both the flu and coronaviruses including COVID-19 where cases drop off during the summer months — then we may be seeing a bit of a respite this summer even with states reopening, protests continuing and the presidential political convention season upon us.
That means between now and September, what is most urgently needed are rapid test kits that can be utilized in areas with the most concern: schools, nursing homes and elderly communities. Schools because kids are known incubators for infection to the general population, and the elderly because they are known to be the most vulnerable to flu and pneumonia-like illnesses including COVID-19.
Overall, three months ago, the push by the Trump administration and state governors to flatten the curve was to prevent such a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases that hospitals and the health care system would not be overwhelmed. Thankfully, the response undertaken prevented a catastrophe, even as the system was strained. It was bent, but not broken.
Now, to keep the curve down, and what will give both individuals and businesses the most confidence to reopen, will be a demonstrated ability to do thorough testing at critical gathering points including schools and that stages of reopening do not see a sustained rise in the number of daily new cases.
Confidence is the key to any economic recovery from the pandemic closures.
As states are reopening, and with the ongoing protests, plus the continued increase in testing, an uptick in cases is not unexpected. We need to know if we have a reopening problem, a protest problem or perhaps no problem at all. It is probably too soon to tell what the trajectory of the virus will be this summer.
In the meantime, if Congress is going to devote funds to anything, it should be for enough testing for the nation to secure the most problematic areas including schools, hospitals and nursing homes, to get through until we have access to a reliable vaccine for the virus. That remains the most urgent priority.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
To view online: http://dailytorch.com/2020/06/as-protests-continue-states-reopen-and-testing-increases-confirmed-covid-cases-see-uptick/
President Trump and the nation need Russ Vought at OMB
June 11, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Senate to confirm the nomination of Russ Vought to head the Office of Management and Budget:
“With a projected budget deficit of $3.7 trillion for 2020, Russ Vought is the right person to be heading up the Office of Management and Budget. Russ’ focus on fiscal sanity and ensuring that all the extra hundreds of billions of dollars now being devoted to the pandemic response, including payroll protection, are being properly allocated is essential to protecting taxpayers’ interests.
“In addition to his commitment to protecting the Treasury from profligate spending, Russ Vought has played a crucial role in analyzing regulatory relief measures to ensure that they met the President’s and our nation’s needs. With President Trump seeking to further streamline government to ensure that our economy is jump started and recovers rapidly from the economic COVID catastrophe, our nation cannot afford to train someone in this crucial position. It is clear that at this time in history, America needs Russ Vought’s expertise and priorities in the lead at the OMB.
“Americans for Limited Government urges a yes vote on Russ Vought’s nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget.”
To view online: https://getliberty.org/2020/06/president-trump-and-the-nation-need-russ-vought-at-omb/
