WASHINGTON – The Senate passed a sweeping healthcare reform bill Thursday morning, despite concerns from the Medical Group Management Association.
The $871 billion Senate bill, passed by 60 to 39, contains measures to build U.S. healthcare on a pay-for-performance platform. MGMA officials said, however, that the bill needs to ensure that medical group practices can deliver quality care in the future.
MGMA President William F. Jessee, MD, said he is concerned about the bill's provision calling for punitive penalties for physicans who fail to participate in the "largely imperfect" Physician Quality Reporting Initiative and other value-based purchasing initiatives. He sent his concerns in a Tuesday letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
The association is also concerned with the bill's provision to release Medicare data to the public without adequate protections to ensure that the information is accurate, statistically valid and verifiable by physicians prior to its release, Jessee said.
The Senate bill must now be reconciled with the House version. MGMA officials have praised the House bill, which was passed Nov. 7, for its provisions to simplify administration, which will call for the widespread use of healthcare IT.
When differences in the bill are resolved, a final vote of approval from Congress is all that stands in the way of President Barack Obama's signature for the bill to become law.
White House officials have indicated that the president hopes to have the bill on his desk before his State of the Union speech in late January, but others on Capitol Hill have speculated it will be difficult for Congress to meet that deadline.
For the past two weeks, Senate leaders have been scrambling to cut deals and carve out measures to garner the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster.
In addition to the MGMA's concerns, the bill holds several obstacles that may be difficult to resolve in conference, including the use of federal funding for abortion, a public health option and the price tag.
The House and Senate bills do agree on a number of measures.
Both mandate that all Americans buy insurance or face fines, both call for subsidies for low-income families to buy insurance, and both would limit out-of-pocket expenses and prevent insurance companies from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
Both bills would expand Medicaid coverage to include more poverty-level Americans and create health insurance exchanges where uninsured Americans and small companies could buy health insurance at competitive prices.
Senate leaders have been criticized for watering down their bill to gain votes, including eliminating a public healthcare option. House leaders have said they will not compromise on issues such as the public option.
President Obama is pleased with the progress, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The Senate bill contains 95 percent of what Obama had hoped would be included, Gibbs said at a press conference Tuesday.
The president looks forward to helping the bill through the negotiation process and signing it as soon as possible, Gibbs added.
"I think the role that he and his team have played up to this point has gotten us to the point where – in all honesty, healthcare is not a matter of – healthcare reform is not a matter of 'if,' healthcare reform now is a matter of 'when.' And I think the president is enormously encouraged by that," Gibbs said.
