THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS AT:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1) HHS Announces New Initiative to Improve Quality of Care for Medicare Beneficiaries with Chronic Illnesses
2) HHS Approves First-Ever Multi-State Purchasing Pools For Medicaid Drug Programs
3) PREVENTION: HHS Launches Organ Donation Education Program for High School Students
4) Science In the News: NHGRI Scientists Return to the Classroom For Second Annual National DNA Day
DNA Day Ambassadors Will Encourage Students to Pursue Genomic Careers
5) Medicare Minute: CMS To Increase Payments To Hospitals Reclassified Under Medicare
Reform Law
6) Secretary Thompson's Public Schedule
HHS Announces New Initiative to Improve Quality of Care for Medicare Beneficiaries with Chronic Illnesses
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on Tuesday announced a new Medicare initiative to improve the quality of care for people living with multiple chronic illnesses by helping them manage their conditions and encouraging better coordinated care.
"This initiative will help hundreds of thousands of seniors and disabled Americans with chronic illnesses to stay healthier and receive higher quality care," Secretary Thompson said. "Too often, seniors with serious chronic illnesses move from doctor to doctor for their specific health problems without any single doctor getting a full picture of their needs. This new program will give them the support they need to better manage their conditions and stay healthy."
The initiative, known as the Voluntary Chronic Care Improvement Program, will reach about 150,000 to 300,000 beneficiaries who are enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare and who have multiple chronic conditions, including congestive heart failure, complex diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It was authorized by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), the legislation that also added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare.
Beneficiaries who agree to participate will receive help in managing their conditions, following their physicians' plan of care and ensuring that they know about, and can take advantage of, Medicare-covered benefits that will help to reduce their health risks. Similar strategies have been widely and successfully adopted across the health care system.
CMS, which will oversee the new program, published a notice in the April 23 Federal Register soliciting proposals from organizations to provide care support services for beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions, including congestive heart failure, complex diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). More information, including the solicitation for the program, is available http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicarereform/ccip.
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HHS Approves First-Ever Multi-State Purchasing Pools For Medicaid Drug Programs
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on Thursday approved plans by five states to pool their collective purchasing power to gain deeper discounts on prescription medicines for their state programs. The multi-state purchasing pool plans approved today include Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire, Alaska and Nevada. This is the first time in the history of the Medicaid program that states have worked together in this manner.
While states are not required to offer prescription drugs through
Medicaid, all states do. However, continued escalation in the cost
of providing prescription medicines has strained many state Medicaid
budgets. Thursday's
historic action will give states unprecedented leverage in negotiating
with
drug manufacturers for lower prices. As part of our efforts to help
states
identify ways to reduce costs while improving quality, CMS will
soon provide guidance to states on forming new purchasing pools
and joining existing purchasing pools.
"By using the proven technique of negotiating lower prices, states will reap important savings on their drug costs," Secretary Thompson said. "The ability to purchase drugs at a lower cost will help states continue to provide critical medications to the millions of low-income citizens who depend on the Medicaid program."
Michigan, which began operating a joint purchasing pool with Vermont last year, estimates that it will save $8 million in its Medicaid program in 2004 as a result of the arrangement. Vermont reports that its Medicaid program will save $1 million in 2004 because of the purchasing pool. Other saving estimates include: Nevada: $1.9 million in 2004; Alaska: $1 million in 2004; and New Hampshire $250,000. Altogether, the pooled purchasing program will cover approximately 900,000 beneficiaries.
"This new approach builds on our efforts to help states use the best private-sector purchasing tools to lower costs, while assuring appropriate standards for proper access to medicines and quality care," said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., administrator of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees the Medicaid program.
Medicaid is a state/federal partnership program that provides health care coverage to over 41 million low-income children, elderly and disabled Americans. Over $280 billion was spent on the Medicaid program in 2003.
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PREVENTION: HHS Launches Organ Donation Education Program for High School Students
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on Tuesday released a new organ and tissue
donation education program to raise awareness among high school students
and to help them make informed decisions about donation. He announced
the new classroom resource while talking with high-school students in
Washington, D.C., about the importance of organ donation.
Decision: Donation -- A School Program that Gives the Gift of Life includes
print, video, CD-Rom, and Web-based materials that teachers can integrate
into existing curriculum and training programs. It is designed for easy
application in a variety of classes, including driver education, English,
health, math, biology, and social studies. For example, there is a simulated
blood test lesson for biology classes and an English lesson on how to
write a persuasive donor awareness essay.
"April is National Donate Life Month and it has been 50 years since the first successful transplant in America," Secretary Thompson said. "What better time to help our high school students understand the process and value of donation. By giving educators tools to open discussions with their teenage students, we are helping a new generation learn how donation can make a difference in the lives of so many."
A single donor can save or enhance up to 50 other lives. While medical advances are enabling more Americans to receive lifesaving transplants, there are not enough donors to help everyone in need. Last year, close to 6,000 Americans died while waiting for organ transplants. Currently, more than 84,000 are on the waiting list for a donation.
The program guide introduced on Tuesday gives a comprehensive overview of organ and tissue donation with commonly asked questions and answers about the process. It also examines the science of transplantation, the problems of matching donors and recipients, and takes a look at some of the religious views surrounding donation and transplantation. A panel of experts -- including transplant professionals, high school and driver education teachers, a textbook editor and others with experience working with high school students -- oversaw the guide's development.
During his first 100 days in office, Secretary Thompson launched the Gift of Life Donation Initiative to focus national attention on the urgent need for donors. Under this initiative, several new efforts have been implemented, including the development of a model donor card and creation of the "Workplace Partnership for Life" campaign that encourages private companies and organizations to provide donation education to their employees or members. This new education program is a key part of the Department's efforts to encourage more Americans to sign an organ and tissue donation card.
More information about the education program and the Gift of Life Donation Initiative is available at www.organdonor.gov.
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Science In the News: NHGRI Scientists Return to the Classroom For Second Annual National DNA Day
DNA Day Ambassadors Will Encourage Students to Pursue Genomic Careers
On April 30, dozens of researchers and staff from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will head back to high schools in rural and urban communities across the country to share with students some of the exciting research taking place at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The presentations by NHGRI's "DNA Day Ambassadors" will coincide with the second annual celebration of National DNA Day, which commemorates the successful completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953.
Many of the ambassadors will return to high schools in their hometowns, while some will reach out to other schools that have expressed interest in expanding their students' knowledge of genomic science. NHGRI, in cooperation with the American Society of Human Genetics, the Genetic Alliance and the National Society of Genetic Counselors, hopes that the DNA Day experience will inspire more students, particularly those from underrepresented and disadvantaged populations, to consider careers in genetics and genomics.
"As we embark on the genome era, we face an urgent need for a new generation of young scientists trained in everything from computer science to bioethics. National DNA Day is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn from real-life genome researchers how they too can become scientists and join in our effort to use genomics to improve human health," said NHGRI Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
For a complete state-by-state list of DNA Day Ambassadors and their schools,
please go to http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr2004/nhgri-21.htm.
To arrange an interview with an ambassador, contact Geoff Spencer, (301)
402-0911. To help teachers and students make the most of National DNA
Day, NHGRI also has developed free, educational tools on genetics and
genomics, which are available at www.genome.gov/DNAday.
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Medicare Minute: CMS To Increase Payments To Hospitals Reclassified Under Medicare Reform Law
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Tuesday announced that 121 hospitals in 25 states will begin receiving higher payments for patients who are discharged on or after April 1, 2004. The increases are due to the geographic reclassification of these hospitals under a special one-time-only provision in the recent Medicare modernization law. The new payments will be retroactive to April 1.
In the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), Congress directed CMS to create a one-time-only appeals procedure for certain hospitals that fell just outside Medicare’s existing criteria for reclassification from their current geographic areas into an adjoining area with higher payment rates, but were deemed to be in need of relief. To fund the increased payments, Congress allocated up to $900 million dollars over three years.
"By ensuring that Medicare pays hospitals fairly, seniors and people with disabilities who live in these communities will continue to get the health care they need," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "These extra dollars will help them compete for quality health care workers."
The law was signed by President Bush on December 8, 2003, and by the MMA’s February 15 deadline, nearly 550 hospitals had appealed based on one or more of eight criteria established by CMS.
The decisions on the individual cases were made by an independent panel within CMS, the Medicare Geographic Classification Review Board, which has responsibility for handling the geographic classification appeals under the general criteria in the regulations.
"We are pleased to be able to meet the tight timetable established in the MMA to get financial relief to these hospitals as rapidly as possible," said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. "We are getting $900 million in assistance out quickly to promote continued access to quality care for Medicare beneficiaries and others in the areas served by these hospitals."
A list of the hospitals that have been reclassified is available.
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Secretary Thompson's Public Schedule:
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Last updated: April 26, 2004
United States Department of Health and Human Services
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