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.

Would your physicians jump at the chance to bid to treat Medicare patients? It's an idea former CMS senior advisor Peter Bach MD, a pulmonary specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, opined about in today's The New York Times.

Mega congratulations to Part B News Executive Editor Scott Kraft for taking first place honors at the annual Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) awards in Washington on June 2. Mr. Kraft won for his work on the Denial Code Dictionary in the Best Reference Publication category.

The 2009 Denial Code Dictionary is an accurate and authoritative information resource on the Remittance Advice Remark Codes used by Medicare and other payers. The dictionary helps physician offices and pracitices decipher and decode remittance advices so you can quickly fix errors on claims stopping your payments. For more information on this must-have book, go to www.decisionhealth.com/pbn/DenialCodeDictionary.