Medicare

ONE LESSER-KNOWN aspect of the Medicare program is that, in addition to providing health insurance for the elderly and the disabled, Medicare is the principal source of funding for the training of physicians in the United States.Last year Medicare paid out more than $5 billion toward the education costs of the teaching hospitals and academic medical centers which are the backbone of the finest medical system in the world.Graduate medical education -- the clinical training of physicians after they graduate from medical school -- is an expensive proposition.

Medicare is one of the most popular and successful programs ever devised in this country. It has improved the length and quality of life for millions of our most vulnerable citizens - the elderly and disabled - while affording them dignity, choice and security in their medical care. Despite the program's success, there are problems with the quality of care Medicare beneficiaries receive. Patients complain they have to wait weeks for an appointment with a primary care physician, if they can find one. When the doctor finally sees them, it may be for only a few minutes.

Medicare must control wasteful spending As a primary care physician who cares for elderly patients, I read the editorial "Health care reform" (Dec. 26) with interest. The editorial correctly pointed to the obscene discrepancy between the salaries of primary care doctors and specialists as part of the problem in providing cost-effective medical care. But the real question is why specialists earn so much and use up such a disproportionate percentage of our health care resources. Medicare could easily fix the problem by altering its reimbursement policies and limiting visits to specialists, and leaders of Medicare have been talking about doing just that for 20 years.

The Help is Here Express bus tour will be at the Carroll Nonprofit Center from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. tomorrow at 255 Clifton Blvd., Westminster. The bus offers uninsured Americans help in finding programs that provide free or low-cost prescription medicines. The tour is part of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a national effort sponsored by America's pharmaceutical research companies. The bus is staffed by trained specialists who can quickly help low-income, uninsured or underinsured patients get access to more than 475 patient assistance programs, including more than 180 programs that are offered by pharmaceutical companies.

As America's health care crisis deepens, the chorus demanding a universal solution grows louder. Health care is shaping up as one of the top issues in the 2008 presidential race. Like it or not, universal health care may be the only realistic path to pursue. The major challenge is paying for it. Here is one doctor's prescription for how to do it. Make it America's business to cut costs. We have a form of federally sponsored universal health care that functions well for seniors and the disabled: Medicare.

WASHINGTON -- Despite promises by Congress to end the secrecy of earmarks and other pet projects, the House of Representatives has quietly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to specific hospitals and health care providers under a bill passed this month to help low-income children. Instead of naming the hospitals, the bill describes them in cryptic terms, so that identifying a beneficiary is like solving a riddle. Most of the provisions were added to the bill at the request of Democratic lawmakers.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. agreed yesterday to pay a $10 million penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it inflated its earnings by fraudulently billing the Medicare system, company and federal officials said. The accord closes the book on government actions against the nation's second-largest hospital operator related to its alleged Medicare fraud, which took place while it was based in Santa Barbara, Calif. Tenet, now based in Dallas, admitted to no wrongdoing in the settlement but said in a press release that the company "has undertaken dramatic changes in its operations, financial safeguards, governance and compliance" since the allegations surfaced in late 2002.

Millions of Americans with respiratory diseases have relied on oxygen equipment delivered to their homes to help them breathe. A basic setup, deliveries of small oxygen tanks for three years, can be bought from pharmacies and other retailers for as little as $3,500, or about $100 a month. Unless, that is, the buyer is Medicare, the government health care program for older Americans. Despite enormous buying power, Medicare pays far more. Rather than buy oxygen equipment outright, Medicare rents it for 36 months before patients take ownership, and pays for services that critics say are often unnecessary.

Integrated Health Services Inc. said yesterday that it had a net loss of $4.6 million, or 10 cents a share, in its second quarter, a result the company attributed to the continuing adverse impact of a new Medicare payment system.Owings Mills-based IHS, a provider of post-hospital services, including nursing and rehabilitation, lost 3 cents more per share than was projected by eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.For the second quarter, the company posted net earnings of $43.7 million, or 80 cents a share.

WASHINGTON -- Buoyed by success abroad and roused by congressional gridlock, President Clinton relaunched his domestic agenda yesterday, trying to seize the middle ground against a Republican Party that the president said has "poisoned" Washington with "petty bickering" and "bitter partisanship."In a policy speech at Georgetown University, Clinton spoke in quiet tones about "an unprecedented consensus of conscience and common sense" in America regarding new gun controls, an increase in the minimum wage, restrictions on campaign fund raising, and protections for managed-care patients.

Teaching kids how to pack healthy school lunches The Anne Arundel County Department of Health's Learn to Live Program provides nutritional information that will help you to teach your child to make healthy lunch choices. "The Cafeteria Connection: An Inside Look at School Lunches" provides a sample menu and nutritional analysis for school lunches and breakfasts. Go to LearnToLiveHealthy.org and click on "Raising Healthy Kids" under "More Ways to Health." Seasonal flu vaccine clinics The Anne Arundel County Department of Health clinics will provide free seasonal flu vaccine to county residents.

As discouraging as it was to watch certain members of the Senate Finance Committee treat the concept of affordable health insurance coverage as America's own Bolshevik Revolution last week, hope for a modicum of common sense in the U.S. Congress springs eternal. The battle over the public option isn't over yet, as there is at least one more card to play. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already promised, no matter what comes out of the full Senate, the health care reform bill approved by the House of Representatives will contain the public option.

According to a Pew Research Center poll taken late last month, senior citizens are more worried than any other age cohort about the president's health care reform proposal. Asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement, "I am concerned that the government is becoming too involved with health care," 53 percent of Americans 65 or older agreed, while 40 percent disagreed. For every other age group - and the country overall - more people disagreed than agreed, with the splits wider for each successively younger age cohort.

Social services should be applauded, not shunned I really appreciated the thoughtful article about the 'Beans and Bread' controversy in Fells Point. As an eight-year resident of the neighborhood I am aware of the tensions that exist between the various community demographics. (particularly the homeless community) I think we all want to live in a safe, healthy environment. Anything that threatens our sense of security is a concern to the community. However, I think you asked the core question in your article: "The homeless aren't about to go away.

Delegate Cardin was arrogant and should resign What arrogance Delegate Cardin has!! He saw nothing wrong with using tax funded police services for his personal use. This is a prime example of what our representatives do with our tax dollars, wasting our money for their pleasure. It is time for us to Delegate Cardin to resign. His political career should now end. He belongs in jail as punishment for stealing from Baltimore City. I hope your paper will print the dollar amount that he repays the city plus a fine.

Physicians committed to health care reform I'd like to thank Ellen Goodman for an insightful column and for recognizing that physicians want to spend more time with patients but are practicing medicine within the confines of a broken system ("Can medicine again be a calling?" June 19). In his recent address to the American Medical Association, President Obama also recognized physicians' dedication to patient care and vowed to listen to and work with physicians to achieve meaningful health reform this year.

WASHINGTON -- Underscoring the urgency of the current push in Washington to rein in skyrocketing health care costs, Medicare's trustees warned Tuesday that the program's biggest fund would run out of money in just eight years. The prediction - issued in an annual report on Medicare and Social Security finances - offered the bleakest assessment of Medicare's future in years and reflects growing concern among policy experts that the nation's health care spending is unsustainable. "The Medicare trustees' report makes clear that today there is no more important long-term fiscal policy measure than gaining control of the growth of Medicare costs by delivering health care services more efficiently," Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said.

The Medicare health program for seniors jeopardizes the country's fiscal health a lot more than the fiscal stimulus or Wall Street bailouts. At Medicare's present rate of expansion, according to the Government Accountability Office, Americans living in 2080 will have to pay 10 percent of their incomes just to cover cancer surgery, heart operations and other care for old people, many of whom will die a few months after treatment. How can we avoid the worst? President Barack Obama has made the first move by starting a tough conversation about the high costs and questionable benefits of care at the end of life.

Medicare is one of the most popular and successful programs ever devised in this country. It has improved the length and quality of life for millions of our most vulnerable citizens - the elderly and disabled - while affording them dignity, choice and security in their medical care. Despite the program's success, there are problems with the quality of care Medicare beneficiaries receive. Patients complain they have to wait weeks for an appointment with a primary care physician, if they can find one. When the doctor finally sees them, it may be for only a few minutes.

Howard County General Hospital will present its fifth Latino Health Fair from noon to 4 p.m. March 14 at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, 10431 Twin Rivers Road. The event is co-sponsored by Priority Partners, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, the Howard County Health Department and Alianza de la Comunidad. Blood pressure, colorectal cancer and glucose and cholesterol screenings will be available. Cardiac risk information will be distributed. Dental screenings for children, HIV testing and clinical breast exams will be offered.