July 2008 : Vol. 2, No. 3
Raul A. Arguello, MD, Appointed Chairman, Department of Pediatrics
Congress Overrides Presidential Veto on Medicare Bill
Getting the Patient Involved
Hospital to Fund Innovative Health Information Exchange (HIE) Toward creating a digital medical community
Promoting Physicians
Keeping Up
Congress Overrides Presidential Veto on Medicare Bill
The long-simmering debate over Medicare reform and physician reimbursement cuts came to a head in Washington last week when H.R. 6331-The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act was passed by Congress, vetoed by the President which was then swiftly overridden by clear majorities in both the House and Senate. This passing of this bill maintains payment rates for 2008 (for 18 months) and increases physician payments by 1.1% in 2009 per Med PAC.
Additionally, the bill increases coverage for seniors for primary care, lowers co-pays for mental health services, promotes CPOE/e-prescribing, honors doctors’ military service, and provides coverage for pulmonary and cardiac rehab. The House of Representatives override vote was 383-41, followed about an hour later by the 70-26 Senate vote which successfully passed the bill. Danbury Hospital is following this and other Federal activity and will update you via this publication. Should you have comment or concerns regarding this or other matters, please contact the hospital’s Director of Public and Government Relations, Andrea Rynn, at 203-739-7919 or via e-mail at andrea.rynn@danhosp.org.