Nation in brief

Panel wants freeze on some Medicare payments

WASHINGTON -- To slow the growth of Medicare, an influential federal advisory panel will soon recommend that Congress freeze payments to nursing homes and home care agencies and reduce the cost-of-living allowance that hospitals are scheduled to receive next year.

Republicans in Congress and Bush administration officials welcomed the proposals, saying they would save money for taxpayers and the Medicare trust fund. But health care providers expressed alarm, saying the proposals could reduce access to care for the elderly and disabled.

The panel, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, recommended a 2.5 percent increase in Medicare payments to doctors next year. Payments to doctors were cut 5.4 percent last year and a 4.4 percent cut is scheduled to take effect March 1.

Doctors are lobbying Congress to block that reduction. The Senate is poised to approve a proposal by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to keep doctor payments at 2002 levels for the rest of this year. It is unclear whether the proposal, part of an omnibus spending bill, will become law.

In a draft of its annual report, to be sent to Congress in March, the commission said that "Medicare payments for hospital services are at least adequate" to cover the costs of efficient providers. Payments to nursing homes and home health agencies appear "more than adequate" to cover the costs of treating Medicare patients, the panel said.

Medicare payments to home health agencies were cut 4.9 percent on Oct. 1, and nursing homes say their payments were reduced an average of 10 percent at that time. Experts on the staff of the commission said that home care agencies and nursing homes had been able to control their costs without reducing the quality of care.

At a meeting last week, many of the 17 commissioners said Medicare had no obligation to make up for underpayments by other insurers, like Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people.

"We should not use Medicare dollars to offset Medicaid losses," commission chairman, Glenn Hackbarth said. "I don't see evidence to support the claim that our recommendations would impede access to quality care."

Democratic hopefuls attend Iowa 'cattle call'

MARION, Iowa -- Three of the half-dozen declared candidates for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination flocked to this small town Saturday to eat pork roast and rub elbows with the party faithful in what organizers billed as the first official "cattle call" of the 2004 Democratic contest.

More than 300 Iowans and almost 30 reporters crammed into a small banquet hall near Cedar Rapids on Saturday evening to size up Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo.; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.; and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

The three squeezed the dinner in between a bevy of other events across Iowa, where they made public and private pitches for their nascent campaigns.

At a breakfast in Des Moines, Kerry touted his military service in Vietnam and tried to position himself as the best candidate to take on President Bush on foreign policy.

A few miles away and a half-hour later, Gephardt was making his pitch to activists in the state party, calling Bush's economic policy "abysmal."

Dean followed Gephardt's speech, pointing up differences between himself and the rest of the field. He is the only candidate who opposes the president's policy on Iraq.

HART LAUNCHES WEB SITE: Former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart launched a Web site -- www.garyhartnews.com -- Saturday in another step along a path leading toward the re-emerging Democrat's decision this spring on whether he will run for president.

Hart said on his Web site that Americans want security, both from terrorism and from domestic threats to the economy and the environment. He is delivering a series of policy speeches in the coming weeks, including one set for Tuesday to the Council on Foreign Policy in New York.

Hart, 65, said recently he would "love to be president," but said he will decide later whether to enter the race. He was a frontrunner to be the nominee in 1988 until a sex scandal dashed his hopes.

Elsewhere . . .

AUTHORITIES SAY MAN PLOTTED TO KILL WASH. GOVERNOR: Federal authorities say an antigovernment extremist who believed he was Washington's governor planned to kill Gov. Gary Locke, and even made several "dry runs" on the Capitol. James Brailey Jr., 43, of Olympia was charged Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on a federal firearms charge.

Recalls

STUFFED BEARS: Build-A-Bear Workshop's "Founding Bear" and "Founding Bear II." Cause: Nose can pose a choking hazard. Action: Return to store for exchange. Call: 1-866-236-5683. On the Web: www.buildabear.com.

SALAD DRESSING: T. Marzetti Co.'s Two-Lightful Blue Cheese dressing with UPC code 70200-51018. Cause: Contains unlabeled powdered anchovies. Action: Return to store for refund. Call: (614) 846-2232.

SNACK BARS: Elan Nutrition LLC's Ultimate Lo Carb Bar in chocolate brownie nut flavor. Cause: Contains unlabeled peanuts. Illnesses reported: One. Action: Return to store for refund. Call: (616) 940-6000.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright