Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Harm New Mexico's Economy
The Medicaid cuts in the House Republican budget proposal, if implemented today, would have a devastating impact on the struggling economy of New Mexico. These cuts would put as many as 14, 830 jobs and as much as $1.5 billion in state business activity at risk. That's the conclusion of a report for New Mexico released today by the national health care consumer organization Families USA. Titled "Jobs at Risk: Federal Medicaid Cuts Would Harm State Economies, " the report focuses mainly on how Medicaid cuts would damage the state's economy, although the report makes clear that the human toll of such cuts is far wider, affecting the health and well-being of low-income and middle-class families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
GP Groups To Intensify Campaign For Restoration Of Medicare Patient Rebates For GP Mental Health Services, Australia
Australia's peak general practitioner coalition, United General Practice Australia (UGPA), today vowed to intensify its campaign to convince the Government to restore the Medicare patient rebates for GP mental health services that were drastically cut in the May Budget. At a meeting last night at Parliament House involving UGPA leaders, Mental Health Minister Mark Butler and senior advisers from Health Minister Nicola Roxon's office, Minister Butler said there was no room for change or negotiation around the Government's mental health package.
Inaccurate Medical Claims Waste 17 Billion Annually, Says American Medical Association
Claims-processing errors have increased by two percent over the last year to a 19.3% rate, wasting $17 billion annually and frustrating patients and health care professionals, says the American Medical Association in its fourth annual National Health Insurer Report Card. Barbara L. McAneny, M.D., an American Medical Association (AMA) Board member, said: "A 20 percent error rate among health insurers represents an intolerable level of inefficiency that wastes an estimated $17 billion annually.