MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Advocate groups for autism, a disease which now affects 1 in 88 U.S. children, are disappointed with the Obama administration’s decision to leave autism coverage up to each state.
The advocates were hoping for federal rules outlining a baseline "essential benefits" package for the life-long and costly condition. Because therapy coverage already varies state by state, the Obamacare might make insurance for people with autism even more complex, KaiserHealthNews reports.
Pennsylvania over-billed providers
Healthcare providers in Pennsylvania were over-billed by state insurance for 3 years, according to a divided jury in a Commonwealth court. The state’s insurance department illegally over-billed healthcare providers to support a program that gives additional coverage for medical malpractice claims. The jury voted 6-1 that the practice violates Pennsylvania’s Medical Care Availability & Reduction of Error Act.
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GOP preps for Obamacare repeal bill
The Republican Study Committee is gearing up to publish its
Obamacare overhaul plan, slated to come out after the August recess. The draft legislation promises to repeal the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, replacing it with more conservative reforms and fewer taxes. The 173 members of the committee are hoping to mobilize the GOP with an alternative healthcare plan that House Republicans can agree on.
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Major Obamacare donor paradoxically campaigns against ACA billing
Florida cardiologist Asad Qamar donated $50,000 to support the non-profit, pro-Obamacare Organization for Action this year, but separately began his own letter-writing campaign protesting the law’s billing practices. Qamar claims investigations by 3rd-party contractors for the Dept. of Health & Human Services, which freeze reimbursement during the probe, are hurting his and other healthcare providers’ businesses. Now the OFA is questioning whether to keep Qamar on after he commissioned the law firm Greenberg Traurig to write a 61-page complaint, which he sent to Obama, Joe Biden, members of Congress and various subcommittees.
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