New Study Shows That American Public is Willing to Accept Major Reforms in Medicare Program

/PRNewswire/ -- Although Americans see Medicare as a key part of the country's social contract and want to preserve it in some recognizable form, they are willing to consider significant changes in the program to hold down its costs as the U.S. population ages.

In day-long "Choice-Dialogues" in which Americans from all walks of life considered the pros and cons of a range of choices for reforming Medicare, common ground was found in several key areas:

-- Allow Medicare to negotiate prices for prescription drugs (94 percent
support).
-- Encourage hospice care instead of heroic end-of-life measures (85
percent support).
-- Only cover treatments that are scientifically proven to be effective
(68 percent support).
-- Emphasize preventive care and personal responsibility (89 percent
consider preventive care very important or essential).
-- Gradually increase the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 (68
percent support).


If additional money is needed to maintain Medicare in a way that is familiar in the future, Americans would rather see the government raise taxes than increase the federal debt.

These are among the central findings in a report released today by The Concord Coalition and Viewpoint Learning, Inc. The report is entitled "Medicare: It's Not Just Another Program."

The report, which was written by Viewpoint Learning, also underscores public dismay at the health care system in general. It comes as Congress and the Obama administration are working on massive changes in the entire system.

"Participants repeatedly expressed concerns over what they saw as a Byzantine and unaccountable health care system," the Medicare report says. "Most felt that the medical industry (especially the pharmaceutical companies) puts profits before people."

Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, says the report shows that Americans are prepared to accept significant changes in the program that plays a central role in the federal government's long-term fiscal problems.

"Medicare is on an unsustainable path and must be reformed," Bixby said. "According to conventional wisdom, however, the public is not ready to accept any change in the status quo. The good news from these Choice-Dialogues is that the conventional wisdom is wrong; the public is ready and willing to consider some very fundamental Medicare reforms so long as the program is preserved as a vital part of the social contract."

"Politicians who are truly interested in saving Medicare should stop the scare tactics and start engaging the public in a dialogue on the real trade-offs that must be confronted," Bixby added. "Changes will still be difficult, but the results will be more acceptable."

Viewpoint Learning conducted the dialogues with randomly selected representative samples of 35-40 citizens in Oak Brook, Illinois; Columbia Maryland; Phoenix and Houston. This project builds on the findings of a broader two-year project, "The America We Want," that examined public opinion on a broader range of federal programs and budget issues.

The new report found that many Americans lacked a strong understanding of the Medicare program, how it is funded, and the severity of the fiscal challenges facing the United States in the years ahead.

Yet most participants in the dialogues, after studying these issues in depth and spending much of a day discussing the problems and possible solutions with others, were able to agree on a set of Medicare changes.

But to win public support, the report cautions, "proposals for major reform to Medicare need to recognize the extent to which Americans see Medicare as an essential part of the social contract and not just as another government program."

Steven Rosell, president of Viewpoint Learning, said "The findings from these daylong dialogues with Americans from very different backgrounds and perspectives reveal deep disconnects between how Washington talks about Medicare and health care reform and how the public talks about them. In case after case, the report shows how leaders and the public are talking past each other, and how this deep disconnect and misunderstanding lead to the heat and the rancor that have made advancing real reform so difficult."

When most people talk about the "cost of health care," for example, they are focused on what they pay in premiums, co-pays and drug expenses. When health care experts talk about costs, however, they usually focus on the costs to businesses, government and other institutions.

Rosell also noted that many Americans do not realize that they are essentially paying for the cost of care for the uninsured already.

The new report, he said, provides insight for leaders about how best to bridge such disconnects and begin to create a learning curve that could lead to public support for significant Medicare reform.

Some elements in the new report also echo the findings of The Concord Coalition's fiscal advisory councils that met in early December in Washington. Working in six different parts of the country on Concord's Fiscal Stewardship Project, these advisory councils called for sweeping reforms in the health care system and some changes in Medicare to put the government on a more sustainable fiscal path. More information on the advisory councils' work is available at:

http://concordcoalition.org/fiscal-stewardship-project/fiscal-stewardship- project.

The full report, entitled "Medicare: It's Not Just Another Program," is available at: http://www.concordcoalition.org/files/uploaded-pdfs/Medicare_Report_Dec09_PRIN T.pdf

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Hospice Community Urges President Obama to Stop Funding Cuts

/PRNewswire/ -- Today, 3,524 hospice providers from across the country sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to stop cuts to the Medicare hospice benefit beginning on October 1, 2009.

The cuts threaten to jeopardize availability of the compassionate and high-quality care that 1.5 million patients and their family caregivers receive from hospice providers each year.

In addition to the letter, more than 500 providers of the hospice community submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on how the cuts will cause them to decrease services, reduce staffing, and in some cases, close their programs.

This follows two Congressional letters sent to President Obama by 45 U.S. Senators and 171 U.S. Representatives, demonstrating that he has strong, bipartisan support to stop the cuts in hospice funding.

The cuts come from a 2008 federal rule that eliminates a component of the Medicare hospice benefit known as the budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF). Members of the hospice community have been calling and emailing the Administration requesting that implementation of this rule be stopped.

"The sheer number of hospice programs represented by this letter and those recently sent by Members of Congress should send a strong message to the White House about the urgency in stopping these cuts," said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president/CEO.

Earlier this year, President Obama and Congress approved a moratorium on the hospice funding cuts that expires on September 30, 2009. Without further action, hospice reimbursements will drop by 3.1 percent, leaving hospice programs, particularly smaller and rural ones, facing cutbacks in services and possible closure.

Hospice is a proven Medicare cost saver. In 2007, an independent, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study by Duke University found that hospice reduced Medicare costs by $2,300 per patient, saving more than $2 billion per year.

Hospice is considered to be the model of high-quality care at the end of life. Research from NHPCO shows that 98 percent of families served by hospice are willing to recommend its care and services to others.

For more information about NHPCO's efforts to protect hospice funding, please visit NHPCO's Advocacy Web page at: www.nhpco.org/advocacy (the letter sent to President Obama is available online).

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National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Calls for Increased Access to Palliative Care in Critical Care Settings

BUSINESS WIRE --The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has issued a position statement calling for increased access to palliative care for patients in critical care settings.

More than one out of five deaths in the United States occur during or following admission to an Intensive Care Unit. At this critical time, palliative care providers can complement the knowledge and skills of critical care professionals in the areas of symptom management, assistance with decision making, and end-of-life care.

There are times when a given technology is not achieving the hoped-for benefit or is too difficult for the patient to continue. Additionally, patients overwhelmed with symptoms such as pain, difficulty breathing, or confusion, and families of patients in the ICU must oftentimes address difficult medical decisions. These individuals would all benefit from the availability of palliative care.

“The focus of critical care is primarily to saves lives,” commented J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. “This is not always possible – not because of any lack of excellence on the part of critical care physicians, nurses, and others, but because some patients’ diseases are too advanced or their injuries are too severe. There are times when patients need additional care and support. They need palliative care.”

NHPCO determined that there was sufficient concern related to the provision of palliative services in critical care settings to warrant the statement and call to action which was created by NHPCO’s Ethics Committee.

Strengthening access to palliative care in all critical care settings and promoting collaboration among all who are involved in this effort are the goals of NHPCO’s call to action.

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Piedmont Mountainside Hospital Hosts Dessert and Discussion with the Doctor

Piedmont Mountainside Hospital invites residents in Pickens County and the surrounding communities to a Dessert and Discussion event on Thursday, June 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the New Education Room, Lower Level. Bryan D. Hooker, M.D. will lead the discussion, “Medicare Hospice Benefit: What it Provides for you and your Family.”

Under Medicare, hospice is primarily a program of care delivered in a person’s home by a Medicare-approved hospice organization. Reasonable and necessary medical and support services for the management of a terminal illness are furnished under a plan-of-care established by the beneficiary’s attending physician and the hospice team. It is available as a benefit under Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A). Medicare beneficiaries who choose hospice care receive non-curative medical and support services for their terminal illness.

“Hospice care is a special way of caring for a patient whose disease cannot be cured,” said Dr. Hooker. “Rather than spending the last few days or months of life in a hospital, patients can receive individualized care at home or in a hospice setting.”

Dr. Hooker is a member of the medical staff at Piedmont Mountainside Hospital. He received his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. He then completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals in Atlanta.

Registration is required for this free event as seats are limited. The dessert begins promptly at 5:30 p.m., and the lecture follows at 6 p.m. To register, please call 1-866-900-4321. To learn more about Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, please call 706-301-5300 or visit www.piedmontmountainsidehospital.org.