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President Barack Obama has "got nerve" to push Congress on health reform while he's "sightseeing in Paris," says a top Republican behind the reform effort. And he did it with Twitter.

 

Here is the latest update on the H1N1 influenza virus (or, the swine flu) outbreak from the CDC. The number of reported cases has reached roughly 8,000 cases, up from 5,000 a week ago. There are now 11 deaths linked to the swine flu. Subscribers can read our coverage, which includes Medicare billing advice, here and here.

A ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives is against the idea of giving the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) the authority to set Medicare rates for providers. MedPAC already makes recommendations to Congress to set rates, but its recommendations are nonbinding. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says he's against increasing MedPAC's authority to completely set rates with Congress then voting them up or down, according to an article in USA Today June 5.

President Obama authored a letter to Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) stating he will look to make $200 to $300 billion in Medicaid and Medicare cuts over the next 10 years. However, savings will come via investment in new technology (think the electronic health record, or EHR, incentive program) and fixing different costs of care (more money for primary care), he says. But savings will also be realized by "going after" rising costs as the result of unmanaged chronic diseases, duplicated tests and unnecessary hospital readmissions, Obama says.

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