On September 3, 2009
Healthcare Roundup: Dems’ Public Plan Deal Falls Apart, CCHIT Moves on, ONC Unveils Extension Centers, and More
Lame Blue Dogs Leading the Blind Dems – According to the Wall Street Journal, a deal struck in July between the liberal and “Blue Dog” Democratic factions over how much to pay doctors in the proposed public plan has fallen apart. The Blue Dogs want the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate rates with physicians, while the liberals want to stick them with Medicare rates, as the current House legislation reads. If the government did negotiate rates, with whom would it bargain? The AMA, which represents only about a third of physicians? And even if HHS and AMA struck a deal, why would physicians participate in a public plan if they thought the rates were too low? Inquiring…
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