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Committee on Ways & Means FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BIPARTISAN MEDICARE REGULATORY RELIEF INTRODUCED IN HOUSE Will Free Doctors’ Time for More Patient Care The burden of unreasonable and unnecessary regulatory paperwork on the nation’s doctors and other health care providers, including hospitals, home health agencies, and nursing homes, will be lightened under the bipartisan Medicare Regulatory and Contracting Reform Act of 2001 introduced yesterday in the House of Representatives by Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Ct), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, and Rep. Fortney H. "Pete" Stark (D-CA), the Subcommittee’s Ranking Member.Lessening the paperwork load would immediately free up for patient care time that providers now spend completing and filing federal forms. "Good health care is about patients, not paperwork. America’s physicians must be freed from the flood of forms," said Chairman Johnson. "This major legislation proposes concrete steps to rein in the demands Washington imposes on providers while ensuring that Medicare continues to meet the needs of America’s seniors." Mr. Stark added, "This legislation takes important steps to improve outreach and processes in order to answer legitimate concerns raised by some providers. It also includes long overdue contracting reforms that will help HHS improve beneficiary services and better manage Medicare claims processing and other duties that are currently handled by contractors. Importantly, however, the legislation does not compromise the government's ability to protect taxpayer dollars from being inappropriately spent under Medicare." The Medicare Regulatory Reform Act of 2001 streamlines the regulatory process, enhances education and technical assistance for doctors and other health care providers, and protects the rights of providers in the audit and recovery process to ensure that the repayment process is fair and open, while protecting ongoing efforts to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program. The proposed legislation establishes a Medicare provider ombudsman to help physicians and other providers deal with the program’s complexity. The legislation also includes a pilot program to help beneficiaries resolve questions and problems by placing Medicare specialists in selected social security offices. The bill reforms Medicare operations by permitting the Secretary of Health and Human Services to contract competitively, with the flexibility to separately contract out for specific functions or for a total service package; expanding the kinds of organizations eligible to work with the Medicare program; and allowing the Secretary to establish financial incentives for quality similar to other Federal contracting. The legislation is the product of months of bipartisan consultation with health care providers and with the Department of Health and Human Services. The bill addresses legitimate concerns raised by health care providers frustrated with over-regulation. At the same time, it supports the government’s ongoing efforts to make Medicare more effective by eliminating fraud and waste from the program. Click here for a copy of H.R. 2768, the "Medicare Regulatory and Contracting of 2001." |