Some Doctors Improperly Bill Medicare Patients Who Also Qualify For Medicaid, Feds Warn
The government says doctors are incorrectly trying to collect deductibles, co-payments and other costs from these patients.
The New York Times:
Doctors Are Improperly Billing Some On Medicare, U.S. Says
Doctors are improperly billing poor people on Medicare for deductibles, co-payments and other costs from which they are supposed to be exempt, the Obama administration says. Federal officials have warned doctors that they may be subject to penalties if they persist in these practices. They could, for example, be fined or excluded from Medicare. The people who are being billed improperly are “qualified Medicare beneficiaries” who are also enrolled in Medicaid. They are 65 and older or disabled and have low incomes, generally less than $1,010 a month for an individual or $1,355 for a married couple. (Pear, 7/30)
In other national news —
Politico:
Kaine Faces Abortion Blowback
Sen. Tim Kaine’s disagreement with Hillary Clinton on a key abortion restriction is causing blowback from abortion rights groups. On Friday morning, the vice presidential nominee said that he still supports the Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer funding for abortions. But Clinton and many abortion rights supporters in the Democratic Party want to repeal the Hyde Amendment, leaving the running mates at odds on the subject just hours after they sealed their status on the Democratic ticket together. (Everett and Haberkorn, 7/29)
The New York Times:
Immunotherapy Offers Hope To A Cancer Patient, But No Certainty
A cancer patient nicknamed the Steel Bull got his death sentence on a gloomy March Wednesday in 2015. He was 47, his given name Jason Greenstein, but he had earned the moniker from his oncologist for his stubborn will during more than four years of brutal chemotherapy and radiation treatment — all of which had failed. ... The oncologist, Dr. Mark Brunvand, said he excused himself to the hallway to gather his emotions. When he returned a moment later, he looked Mr. Greenstein in the eye. “You are going to die,” he remembers saying. “And because you’re my friend, it’s my job to make you as comfortable as possible.” ... What happened next qualified as well beyond “dramatic response.” A few days later, Mr. Greenstein agreed to try a last-ditch drug called nivolumab that was being tested for Hodgkin’s. It dripped into his veins, just like those body-racking chemotherapy treatments. But this time, there were no harsh side effects. And this time, the outcome was very different. (Richtel, 7/31)
The Wall Street Journal:
Glaxo, Alphabet Plan $700 Million Bioelectric Treatment Venture
GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Google-parent Alphabet Inc. have teamed up to develop what they call bioelectronic medicines, or treatments that use miniature electronic devices to modify how electrical impulses are transmitted around the nervous system. The U.K pharmaceutical company said it had signed an agreement with Verily Life Sciences LLC, formerly Google Life Sciences, to create Galvani Bioelectronics. It said the pair would spend up to £540 million ($700 million) over seven years on the venture, provided they succeeded in hitting various milestones along the way. Glaxo will control 55% of the new company with Verily holding the rest. (Roland, 8/1)
The New York Times:
Zika Cases In Puerto Rico Are Skyrocketing
The Zika epidemic that has spread from Brazil to the rest of Latin America is now raging in Puerto Rico — and the island’s response is in chaos. The war against the Aedes aegypti mosquito carrying the virus is sputtering out in failure. Infections are skyrocketing: Many residents fail to protect themselves against bites because they believe the threat is exaggerated. (McNeil, 7/30)