Weekly Financing News Pulse
National Edition
September 25, 2009
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Inside This Issue – News

Senate Finance Committee Marks Up Health Care Reform Bill; House Moves Toward Health Reform Compromise
On September 22, the Senate Finance Committee began the mark-up of the America’s Health Future Act of 2009, the health care reform bill that the bipartisan “gang of six” has been negotiating for months. However, prior to beginning the mark-up, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D–MT) made several changes to the bill. The committee estimates that the modified bill will cost $900 billion over 10 years but actually reduce the deficit by $23 billion because of cost offsets.

SAMHSA Awards $46 Million in Prevention Grants
On September 14, SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention awarded four 5-year Partnerships for Success: State and Community Prevention Performance grants. Building on the Strategic Prevention Framework, the grants aim to reduce statewide substance abuse rates by addressing gaps in states’ current prevention services and increasing their ability to reach out to specific populations or geographic areas with serious, emerging substance abuse problems.

House Approves Legislation To Prevent Medicare Premium Increases
On September 24, the U.S. House overwhelmingly approved legislation to prevent Medicare Part B premium increases for 11 million seniors. The legislation would use $2.8 billion from the Medicare Improvement Fund to prevent rate increases for new Medicare enrollees, Medicare enrollees with incomes over $85,000 ($170,000 for couples), and dually eligible Medicaid and Medicare enrollees whose Medicare premiums are paid by Medicaid. If no adjustment is passed, affected premiums will likely rise from an average of $96.40 per month this year to $119 per month in 2010, and $123 per month in 2011.

Inside This Issue – Studies Released

Urban Institute Report Estimates the Cost of Racial and Ethnic Disparities
On September 22, the Urban Institute released a report, which estimates that racial and ethnic disparities in a set of preventable illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, and stroke will cost $23.9 billion in 2009. In addition, the report estimates that the total cost of the disparities will reach $337 billion by 2019 and increase by more than 50 percent by 2050 as the American minority population increases.

RWJF Report Finds Most Preventative Care Does Not Result in Cost Savings, but Many Preventative Measures Are Cost-Effective
A report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found that, although many preventative services are cost-effective—offering good value for their cost—and help people lead longer and healthier lives, most do not result in cost savings.
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http://samhsa.gov/Financing/file.axd?file=2009%2f9%2fWeekly+Financing+News+Pulse+National+Edition+final+200900925.pdf