The Scott County I-Club along with the Children's Therapy Center are co-hosting the Iowa vs. Minnesota game from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport. 

Watch the game on big-screen televisions, take part in the silent auction and giveaways, and enjoy some food and drink.  Some former Iowa football players will also be on hand.

The cost is $15 per person and that includes certificates good for food and drink and also purchases at the Black & Gold store.

Advance tickets are availabe at the Village Corner Deli, 1030 Mound Street, Davenport, at the Black & Gold store, 102 East Kimberly Road, Davenport, from Scott County I-Club board members or by calling Karole Snyder at 563-391-5287.

Bill would stop a scheduled end-of-year Medicare reimbursement cut to Iowa doctors

Washington, DC - Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) today introduced a bill to make sure Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians in Iowa and other rural states don't drop precipitously at the end of the year and endanger Iowans' access to doctors and high-quality medicine.

Legislation written by Braley and passed in 2010 ensures that doctors in Iowa and other rural states get paid by Medicare at rates closer to those of doctors in larger, more urban states.  The law is set to expire on December 31st, 2011.

Braley's Medicare Equity Extension Act, introduced today, extends the current reimbursement rates for an additional two years.  The legislation would help Iowa retain doctors and improve patient access to quality healthcare.

"It's funny math.  Medicare pays doctors based on geography, not quality of care," Braley said.  "Iowa doctors rank near the top in quality of care, but get penalized for their success since Medicare pays doctors more money in big states even if quality is lower.

"Doctors should have an incentive to provide good care.  Instead, there's an incentive to leave states like Iowa for bigger states with higher payment rates.

"The Medicare Equity Extension Act will stop Medicare from cutting payments to Iowa doctors, preventing a potential exodus of good physicians to other states and providing an incentive to doctors to provide the best care possible."

Medicare calculates reimbursements to physicians using two indexes that factor in the cost of doctors' labor and the cost of doctors' physical expenses like office space and equipment.  Because Medicare considers the cost of doing business in Iowa and other rural states to be low, this negatively impacts the amount doctors are reimbursed for their services.

Current law sets a floor on the indexes, and thus a floor on reimbursements, ensuring rural states' reimbursement rates more closely match large states'.  Those floors would expire on December 31st unless legislation is passed to extend them.  The Iowa Medical Society, among other groups, has urged an extension.

New Go4Life campaign focuses on fitness for older adults

Public-private effort led by NIH reaches out to Boomers, their parents

Being physically active is vital to maintaining health and independence as we age, and a new federal campaign for people 50 and older will help them to get active and keep going. Introduced today by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Go4Life campaign encourages sedentary older adults to reap health benefits by making physical activity part of their daily lives. Only 25 percent of people aged 65-74 say they engage in regular physical activity.

Go4Life was presented Oct. 19, 2011, at a briefing on exercise and aging on Capitol Hill, hosted by Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and by Mark Udall, D-Colo., Senate Special Committee on Aging.

The briefing highlighted the public-private partnership central to the campaign?a Go4Life team that will work to bring the campaign into communities across the United States. The team includes NIH, other agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and national organizations, corporations, insurers, health care providers, and nonprofit organizations.

Go4Life's participating organizations will incorporate campaign resources into their own health and wellness activities, disseminating Go4Life web links and materials to their members, employees, and customers. Many partners will directly sponsor events or community activities aimed at engaging older adults in exercise and physical activity as the campaign moves forward.

The campaign was conceived, and is being led, by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the component of NIH devoted to research on aging. The NIA will work with the Go4Life community on events and will highlight participating organizations and their activities on the campaign website.

"If we want to become a healthy and fit nation, we need to increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life," said U.S. Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A. "Go4Life provides older adults with the tools and resources to get moving and keep moving. With the release of the National Prevention Strategy, we are moving our health care system from a focus on sickness and disease to a focus on wellness and prevention."

The campaign developed from concerns that, despite proven health benefits, exercise and physical activity rates among older people are low. About 30 percent of people aged 45-64 say they engage in regular leisure-time physical activity. Only a quarter of those ages 65-74 say they do. And while experts say people age 85 and older, can benefit from exercise, only 11 percent of that age group report being active. At the same time, NIA noted, some older adults were contacting the Institute for guidance on kinds of exercises to do, indicating interest in becoming more active.

"You're never too old to increase your level of physical activity and exercise," says Richard J. Hodes, M.D., director of the NIA. "Go4Life is based on studies demonstrating the benefits of exercise and physical activity for older people, including those with chronic health conditions. This new campaign reaches out to older people who traditionally have not embraced exercise and shows them ways that even those with physical limitations may be able to exercise safely as well."

The research-based resources of Go4Life center on a colorful, interactive website (www.nia.nih.gov/Go4Life) providing information and motivation for exercise for individuals, families and friends, organizations, and health care professionals. The site features specific exercises, success stories, and free materials to motivate growing numbers of older people to start exercising and keep going. It even offers online virtual coaches to help motivate Go4Life participants. Many Go4Life materials are available in Spanish at http://go4life.niapublications.org/resources/spanish#espanol.

To develop Go4Life, NIA brought together some of the nation's leading experts on aging, exercise, and motivation. Over two years, the task force reviewed the research and worked with the institute to develop a book, "Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute on Aging." The campaign is based on the book.

Some specific benefits of exercise for health and aging include :

• Fitness and cardiorespiratory health: In one study, moderately fit women and men had a 50 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, obesity, and some cancers when compared with their low fit peers. High fit people obtained additional benefit, typically another 10-15 percent lower risk.

• Reduced pain, better function with osteoarthritis: In a clinical trial of people age 60 and older with knee osteoarthritis, those who participated in an aerobic exercise or resistance exercise program reported less pain and better function than those in the group assigned to a health education program.

• Preventing diabetes: Results from the NIH-sponsored Diabetes Prevention Program, which examines ways to prevent or delay the development of non-insulin-dependent diabetes, found that people over age 60 at high risk for diabetes reduced their risk by 71 percent by adopting a moderate exercise routine and a low-fat diet.

"An important part of active aging is being healthy and staying fit," says Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee, who heads the Administration on Aging at HHS. "I look forward to working with NIH and the growing number of campaign partners in the aging network to distribute to seniors around the country these tips on how to get active and stay active."

The NIA invites public and private organizations whose interests and activities involve health, aging and exercise to join the campaign. Agencies, organizations and companies on board as of today as initial Go4Life team members are:

Federal agencies:

• Administration on Aging
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Institutes of Health
  • National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  • National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
  • National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
  • National Institute of Mental Health
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  • Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, HHS
  • President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition

Private and nonprofit organizations:

• Alliance for Aging Research
• America On the Move Foundation, Inc.
• American College of Sports Medicine
• American Federation for Aging Research
• American Geriatrics Society
• American Library Association
• American Medical Association
• American Occupational Therapy Association
• American Physical Therapy Association
• American Psychological Association
• America's Health Insurance Plans
• CenturyLink
• Easter Seals
• Erickson Living/Greenspring
• Gerontological Society of America
• Humana Inc.
• International Council on Active Aging
• Jewish Community Centers Association of North America
• National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
• National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities
• National Council on Aging
• National Recreation and Park Association
• National Senior Health & Fitness Day (Mature Market Resource Center)
• OASIS
• Sunrise Senior Living
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Volunteers of America
• Year of Vitality Cleveland
• YMCA of the USA

For further information on the public and private support of the Go4Life initiative, please visit www.nia.nih.gov/Go4Life.

The NIA leads the federal government effort conducting and supporting research on aging and the health and well-being of older people. The Institute's broad scientific program seeks to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. For more information on research, aging, and health, go to www.nia.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

WASHINGTON -In a letter today, the top Republicans on the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees, U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius why the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is not utilizing some of the tools provided within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to safeguard the Medicare program from waste, fraud and abuse.

Under PPACA, CMS can impose a temporary enrollment moratorium on new Medicare providers and suppliers when the agency determines that there is a significant potential for waste, fraud, or abuse by the applicant type or geographic area. While the final rule for this regulation was published more than eight months ago, CMS has failed to impose a single temporary moratorium. Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the HHS-OIG are operating strike force initiatives in seven States (California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, and Texas), including Miami, Florida.  All of these areas, particularly Miami, have historically been vulnerable to Medicare fraud and are high risk areas for programmatic vulnerability. However, to date, CMS has failed to exercise its authority to protect against fraud. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association has estimated that as much as $60 billion is lost to fraud, waste and abuse across the Federal health care programs.

"It is deeply disconcerting that CMS has failed to act in the best interest of the American taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries and prevent fraud before it occurs by exercising its moratoria authority," wrote the Senators.  "It is not reasonable to suggest that CMS needs more time to study whether there is need to impose a temporary moratoria in certain geographical areas for certain provider and supplier types when ample evidence exists from the strike force activities to justify moratoria in these high fraud areas."

The text of the letter to Secretary Sebelius is below and a signed copy can be found HERE:

October 25, 2011

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Sebelius:

As the Ranking Members of the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees, we are writing to request that as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), you exercise the discretionary authority granted to you through Section 6401(a)(6) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) regarding the imposition of temporary moratorium on the enrollment of new providers and suppliers.  Specifically, we urge you to determine why the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is failing to use this tool provided in PPACA to prevent waste, fraud and abuse.

On February 2, 2011, CMS published a final rule with comment entitled, "Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health insurance Programs (CHIP); Additional Screening Requirements, Application Fees, Temporary Enrollment Moratoria, Payment Suspensions and Compliance Plans for Providers and Suppliers" in the Federal Register. In part, this regulation allows CMS to impose a temporary enrollment moratorium on new Medicare providers and suppliers when CMS determines that there is a significant potential for fraud, waste or abuse with respect to a particular provider or supplier type, geographic area or both.

Today, more than year after the publication of a proposed rule and more than 8 months after publishing the aforementioned final rule with comment, CMS has still not imposed a single temporary moratorium.  In addition, despite a specific recommendation by the HHS Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) to impose a temporary moratorium on independent diagnostic testing facilities in Los Angeles, California, CMS refused.

Additionally, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the HHS-OIG are operating strike force initiatives in seven States (California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, and Texas), including Miami, Florida.  All of these areas, particularly Miami, have historically been vulnerable to Medicare fraud and are high risk areas for programmatic vulnerability.  Therefore, it is deeply disconcerting that CMS has failed to act in the best interest of the American taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries and prevent fraud before it occurs by exercising its moratoria authority in some of these areas.  It is not reasonable to suggest that CMS needs more time to study whether there is need to impose a temporary moratoria in certain geographical areas for certain provider and supplier types when ample evidence exists from the strike force activities to justify moratoria in these high fraud areas.  To better understand CMS's failure to act, please:

1.      Explain why CMS decided not to impose a temporary moratorium on independent diagnostic testing facilities (IDTFs) in Los Angeles, California despite the OIG recent recommendation and previous work by the OIG that indicated $71.5 million in improper payments to IDTFs.

2.      Explain what steps CMS is taking to address the concerns raised by the OIG with respect to IDTFs in Los Angeles, California.  Please include a detailed timeline.

3.      Explain why CMS has not imposed a temporary moratorium of "high" or "moderate" categorical risk providers/suppliers in HHS-OIG strike force cities or other high-risk areas.

4.      Explain why CMS decided not to impose a temporary moratorium for durable medical equipment suppliers in south Florida when Daniel R. Levinson, the Inspector General for HHS-OIG, stated in his March 9, 2011 Congressional Testimony that there is "rampant fraud" among durable medical equipment suppliers in south Florida.

5.      Describe the program changes that CMS is considering to strengthen the provider enrollment process for "moderate" and "high" screening risk providers and suppliers, such as IDTFs, home health agencies, and suppliers of durable medical equipment, orthotics, prosthetics, and supplies.

6.      Provide all materials used to develop and finalize the temporary moratorium provisions found in CMS-6028-P and CMS-6028-IFC.

7.      Consistent with 42 CFR 424.570(a)(2)(i)(A), provide a list of providers and suppliers with a highly disproportionate number of providers and suppliers in a category relative to the number of beneficiaries for each State.

8.      Consistent with 42 CFR 424.570(a)(2)(i)(B), provide a list of providers and suppliers and location (city and state) where a rapid increase in the number of enrollment applications has occurred within the past twelve months.

9.      Consistent with 42 CFR 424.570(a)(2)(ii), provide a list of State Medicaid programs who have imposed a moratorium on a group of Medicaid providers or suppliers that are also eligible to enroll in Medicare.

10.  Consistent with 42 CFR 424.570(a)(2)(iii), provide a list of State-imposed moratoria on enrollment in particular geographic areas or on a particular providers, supplier types, or both.

We understand that we are requesting a substantial amount of information, but appreciate your understanding Congress' role in overseeing that taxpayer dollars are carefully spent. Thank you for your timely attention to this matter and we request a response by December 2, 2011.

Sincerely,

HATCH
GRASSLEY

cc: Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Principal Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer Marilyn Tavenner, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

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