Roskam, Ways and Means Committee amass Medicare improvements at roundtable

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, learned from healthcare professionals how Medicare regulations are negatively impacting them, their patients and the overall industry during a March 15 roundtable event, but they’ve also come up with some potential solutions.

The House Ways and Means Committee hosted the discussion with 10 healthcare provider groups in an effort toward legislatively improving Medicare. Rep. Roskam opened the discussion by asking, “What is it, within the physician practice area, that are regulatory burdens that just don’t make any sense anymore? Let’s engage them.”

Roundtable participants voiced myriad challenges adhering to the current Medicare regulations, including how obsolete and excessive regulatory burdens prevent doctors from delivering quality care to their patients, according to a summary of the event from committee staff.

For example, an emergency doctor said his staff must obtain patients’ permission multiple times before viewing their substance abuse records, resulting in time constraints that during an emergency situation can mean life or death for some of them, according to the committee’s summary.

Nevertheless, the healthcare professionals offered common recommendations for changes to Medicare, including that members of Congress standardize documentation guidelines and remove unnecessary paperwork and reporting duties. In addition, they recommended updating any laws that slow providers’ ability to coordinate on creating efficiencies and decreasing patients’ costs, and they also called for broadening access to telehealth and other innovative healthcare options.

“I think this can be the beginning of a dialogue that is ongoing. You’ve come with serious proposals, you’ve come with vetted thoughts, and you know what you’re talking about,” said Roskam in closing the meeting. “This committee is really interested in trying to absorb that.”

Rep. Roskam has been at the forefront of several efforts to modernize the Medicare program. For instance, on Dec. 5, 2017 he introduced the bipartisan Medicare Common Access Card (CAC) Act of 2017, H.R. 4554, which would incorporate identification card technology used by the U.S. Department of Defense into Medicare patient cards to prevent waste, fraud and abuse. U.S. Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL), Ryan Costello (R-PA), Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) signed on as cosponsors of H.R. 4554, which has been referred to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.

“Waste and fraud continue to drain precious Medicare dollars at a loss of over $60 billion annually,” Roskam said when introducing H.R. 4554. “The CAC Act brings about much-needed innovation to the Medicare system by making sure claims are verified using smart chip technology. By implementing this easy-to-use tool into Medicare we reduce fraud, save taxpayers billions of dollars and improve patient care.”