Health care providers could get more money for treating Medicare patients under reform bill

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Wisconsin’s health care providers could get more money for treating Medicare patients under the final House version of the health reform bill.

Democratic leaders have approved a deal to solve regional differences in how Washington reimburses doctors and hospitals to treat older patients.

Wisconsin’s lawmakers have argued for years that the state gets penalized under the current reimbursement formula – because many hospitals provide higher-quality care at lower costs than those in other states.

Under the new agreement, the Institute of Medicine would perform two studies on changing the current system.

One would look at regional differences, and the other would suggest a system that pays doctors on quality and not their volumes of cases.

La Crosse Democrat Ron Kind says the current system wastes $700 billion a year by paying for procedures that aren’t needed.

And Kind says the savings would help people with insurance who pay what the government doesn’t for Medicare patients.

Steve Kagen, D-Appleton, says the new measure would improve quality and drive down costs.

David Obey, D-Wausau, says the agreement avoids a regional fight in Congress over the reimbursement issue.

Tags: health reform, wisconsin, medicare, payments