Negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on Medicare legislation seem to have stalled report Congressional staff.  With little time remaining before elected officials adjourn for recess, progress on the legislation that would delay a 10 percent physician fee cut scheduled for January 1st appears unlikely. 

Late Wednesday, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, announced the committee would not mark-up Medicare legislation and will instead begin direct negotiations with House Democrats on the package.  The legislation aims to prevent a 10 percent reimbursment cut to physicians that goes into effect January 1st. 

In a recent poll conducted by Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive, sixty percent of adults agree that using electronic health records is beneficial even when taking privacy issues into consideration.  The survey found that 63% of adults believe medical errors could be drastically reduced with the adoption of EHRs.  Additionally, a majority of respondents said health care costs could be significantly reduced and that use of EHRs could improve the quality of care they receive by eliminating duplicative or unnecessary tests.

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In late November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that changes had been approved to Wisconsin's State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  Under the changes, BadgerCare will now be able to enroll children in families of four under 250 percent of the federal poverty level (approximately $51,625).  Wisconsin had intended to expand enrollment to 300 percent of poverty, but an August 2007 guideline issued by CMS prevented this expansion.  In August CMS expressed its concern that significant expansion of the SCHIP program might lead to "crowd out" at higher income levels.  An estimated 7,600 children are expected to benefit from the new changes.

For more information visit www.cms.gov