Newly minted CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, is striking back against a claim by former HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt that the projected savings from health reform are "an illusion" born of statistical sophistry. In an op-ed piece published in today's (Sept. 3) issue of The Washington Post, Dr. Berwick says Leavitt is "incorrect" and cites a variety of provisions in the law that would improve health outcomes for seniors.

Leavitt had argued in his op-ed -- also published in The Post -- that the hundreds of billions in projected savings over the next decade are based on "double counting" of the Medicare savings generated by health reform (read more on Berwick clashes with Leavitt) ...

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is wrangling with new CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, over obtaining a list of donors providing funding to Dr. Berwick's former employer, the not-for-profit Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Cambridge, Mass. Grassley says he was promised the information but Berwick never delivered.

"The reason for seeking key donor information by correspondence is Dr. Berwick was recess-appointed without even a committee hearing, which would have looked at his organization's funding and identified possible conflicts of interest in his control of the nation's health care programs," Grassley says.

Berwick responded to Grassley (pdf) with a letter on Aug. 26 stating he has no financial interest in IHI, its donors or clients. He referred to his Public Financial Disclosure Report with the Office of Government Ethics for a list of his financial history and work with donors.

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Physician practices must have an electronic health record (EHR) system reviewed or certified by Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and the Drummond Group Inc. to earn EHR Incentive Program bonuses in 2011, HHS announced on Aug. 30.

Vendors can have either group certify that products meet CMS's standards for the incentive program. "By purchasing certified products, providers will have assurance that the products will support achievement of the meaningful use objectives," HHS said in a press release.

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You've now got more flexibility to bill Medicare for trying to get smokers to quit via counseling sessions. HHS has expanded Medicare coverage for tobacco cessation counseling (billed via codes 99406 and 99407, which pay $13.64 and $26.18 respectively). The old policy restricted Medicare coverage for counseling to patients who'd been diagnosed with a tobacco-related disease or showed symptoms of such disease. The new policy opens counseling up to any Medicare beneficiary who happens to smoke (read more on expanded Medicare coverage for tobacco cessation) ...

Former HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt says the new health reform law weakens the Medicare program and doesn't add life to the Medicare Part A trust fund. Leavitt, who now runs a health care and food safety consulting firm, called the Medicare Trustees' projection of the law extending the hospital insurance fund an "illusion" in an op-ed in The Washington Post on Friday.

Leavitt maintains that Medicare savings are being counted twice: once to improve the solvency of the Part A program and again to pay for other provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "The Medicare cuts can be used to improve the government's capacity to finance benefits in the future or to pay for another entitlement," he writes. "But they can't be used for both -- a point the CBO and Medicare's actuaries made in their cost estimates."

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