Weekend update

The FEHBlog had a great weekend. One of his nieces got married in Philadelphia, and UConn, the team of destiny, continued its march toward a fourth national men's basketball championship in Texas.

Congress will be in session this coming week according to the Hill's Floor Action blog.  Congress continue sot evaluate postal reform. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing on the President's proposed FY 2015 Postal Service budget on Tuesday morning. The Federal Times reports in an article about the Postal Service planning that Postmaster General  "Donahoe said the concept of a separate health plan for postal employees is also a ‘dead issue’" because he does not want the issue to interfere with broader postal reform.

As early as this week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be issuing a boatload of information about 2012 Medicare payments to doctors much to the chagrin of the American Medical Association according to a Washington Post report. The Wall Street Journal which pressed for this disclosure explains that

[The data set ] will include how many times the providers carried out a particular service or procedure, whether they carried it out in a medical facility or an office setting, the average amount they charged Medicare for it, the average amount they were paid for it, and the total number of people they treated. The data set would show the names and addresses of the [880,000} providers in connection with their reimbursement information,

This morning's New York Times has a lengthy front page story on the rising cost of health care for people with chronic diseases, in particular diabetes 1. The article is definitely worth reading.