Two bills were recently introduced in Congress to clarify congressional intent on the treatment of hospitals for purposes of federal electronic health record (EHR) incentives. H.R. 6072 and S. 3708 ensure that EHR incentive payments would be available to all hospitals in a multi-campus system, and that those hospitals could choose the calculation that would best meet the needs of their institutions and communities. Please contact your member of Congress, as well as Senators Specter and Casey, to request that they cosponsor the bills.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) projected national health spending will grow an average 6.3% annually through 2019; 0.2 percentage points faster than projected in February due to health care reform and other recently enacted legislation. The agency projects health care will account for 19.6% of gross domestic product by 2019, 0.3 percentage points higher than anticipated before reform. Assuming a 23% physician payment cut takes effect in December 2010 and COBRA premium subsidies expire, CMS expects spending growth to slow from 5.1% in 2010 to 4.2% in 2011. It expects spending to rise by 9.2% in 2014, largely due to expansions of health coverage through Medicaid and the state health insurance exchanges. By 2019, private health coverage is expected to account for 32% of national health spending. Government administrative costs for health reform are estimated at $71.1 billion through 2019.

Governor Rendell announced that Michael Nardone, who currently serves as the Deputy Secretary, Office of Medical Assistance for the state Department of Public Welfare (DPW), will become the acting secretary replacing Secretary Harriet Dichter. Dichter will resign September 15 to establish a Washington, D.C. office for the First Five Years Fund, an organization focused on improving federal policy for early childhood education. As deputy secretary, Nardone oversees the state’ Medicaid program which serves more than 2 million Pennsylvanians. Nardone is among six state Medicaid directors nationwide to be selected in the RWJ Foundation’s Medicaid Leadership Institute.