Monday Update

Congress remains in recess until after Labor Day.

Kaiser Health News reports that CMS plans to penalize 2,111 hospitals for excess readmissions pursuant to authority granted by (what else) the Affordable Care Act. "A total of 278 hospitals nationally will lose the maximum amount allowed under the health care law: 1 percent of their base Medicare reimbursements. Several of those are top-ranked institutions, including Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School." For context, the American Hospital Association reports that there are about 5700 hospitals in the U.S. Of course, these facilities will shift these losses onto the private sector, including the FEHBP.

The AMA News has interesting observations about how the aging medical workforce may be creating a drop in health care quality. "One in five licensed U.S. doctors is older than 65, according to 2010 data from the AMA. Many of those doctors continue to practice for the love of medicine and often because retirement is financially out of reach." The FEHBlog, while not a doctor, is no spring chicken himself and appreciate the complexities of this issue, which medical societies and state regulators are beginning to confront.

Speaking of public health concerns, the Centers for Disease Control released a state by state map of self reported obesity rates. The FEHBlog is curious about obesity statistics because last year at this time he would have reported himself as obese. Fortunately with good medical and family guidance, the FEHBlog has lost a good bit of weight and is well under the obesity level on the BMI scale for his height. But he is still a good ten to fifteen pounds away from being under the overweight classification and he is feeling quite trim as it is. Watch those carbs!