Under the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office was created to help solve problems of fragmentation – to ensure that beneficiaries receive the highest quality, most coordinated care possible. Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made three announcements that will help states improve care and reduce costs for patients eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare.

For nine years in a row, Congress has enacted legislation to override large payment cuts to physicians. But lawmakers haven’t acted to get rid of the SGR and replace it with a formula that works. Since he took office, President Obama has called for a “permanent fix” to the SGR that would avoid this annual exercise. While we stopped the cuts scheduled for 2010 and 2011, we are now faced with the prospect of a 29.5 percent cut in 2012.

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued proposed rules that spell out how this cut is calculated and warned that if Congress does not act in time, doctor fees will be slashed come January 1. We cannot – and will not – let this happen.

Earlier this month, we announced that June is “Prevention and Wellness Month” – a time for us to focus on the steps that we as individuals, and communities, can take to play a more active role in our health and wellness. We recognize that there are a lot of good ideas out there, and there’s a good chance that you have some prevention tips that others may find helpful.
With this in mind, we asked you to share some of the ways that you proactively stay healthy – by posting your ideas on our Facebook page and twitter accounts. Here are some of the comments you shared with us, that we want to share with others.

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services issued rules to simplify the mounds of paperwork that doctors, nurses, and other caregivers have to complete in order to get paid for treating you. We estimate that these changes will save our health care system $12 billion over the next 10 years. More important, it will free caregivers to spend more time with you. We estimate these changes will give doctors back four hours a week and another five hours to their staff.

Over the past decade, little progress has been made in reducing these disparities. According to the Institute of Medicine, inadequate data on race, ethnicity, and language lowers the likelihood of effective actions to address health disparities.

But, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, section 4302 invests in the implementation of a new health data collection and analysis strategy. It requires all national federal data collection efforts to collect data on: race, ethnicity, primary language, disability status, and gender.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, almost half a million individuals enrolled in Medicare’s prescription drug benefit have received a 50 percent discount on their out-of-pocket costs in the first five months of 2011.

Because of Medicare improvements in the Affordable Care Act, beneficiaries now automatically receive a 50 percent discount on covered brand-name drugs in the Part D coverage gap, or “donut hole,” and have saved more than $260 million so far this year.

As a pediatrician, I’ve seen too many children whose health problems could have been avoided if they hadn’t been exposed to cigarette smoke. And when parents smoke, it’s especially dangerous to their children.

Take this new checklist to your doctor or other health care provider to find out what preventive services are right for you. This comprehensive check-list spells out the Medicare covered preventive services and allows you to keep track of when you received a particular test, screening, or service, as well as when you are due for your next one. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, these preventive services ranging from mammograms and flu shots to a yearly “wellness” visit, are offered free of charge to patients covered by Medicare.

The Affordable Care Act ensures that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care. It works with States to establish State-based Health Insurance Exchanges so that consumers have the ability to shop for coverage in a competitive marketplace and insurers are made to compete on the basis of cost and quality. And it takes important steps to make coverage more affordable for millions of people, families, and small businesses.

Today, a new report showed that more than 5 million Americans with traditional Medicare, or nearly one in six people with Medicare, took advantage of one or more of the recommended preventive benefits now available for free thanks to the Affordable Care Act – most prominently, mammograms, bone density screenings, and screenings for prostate cancer.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) teamed up with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the sixth Health Care Fraud Prevention Summit in Philadelphia. This historic moment in Medicare’s fight against fraud illustrates yet another way the health care law, the Affordable Care Act, is making America stronger, safer, and healthier. In fact this law is one of the toughest anti-fraud laws in American history.

Tomorrow, June 16, we are taking steps forward to move the nation away from a focus on disease and illness to a focus on wellness and prevention.
HHS Secretary Sebelius, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, US Senator Tom Harkin, Melody Barnes, Domestic Policy Adviser and the Director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin will join with other administration officials to unveil the first ever National Prevention Strategy.

You take your car in for a yearly smog check, change the battery in your kitchen’s smoke detector, and file your taxes. These are all things that keep your life running smoothly and help prevent problems before they start.

But what about you? Do you use health services to help prevent illness? Unfortunately Americans use preventive health services at about half the recommended rate, often because of cost concerns. This is dangerous to our health because chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and are often preventable.

In a new web video, listen to Sorrel King’s personal story about why she’s committed herself to shedding light on the role that medical errors play in thousands of preventable deaths every year in the United States. After you’ve watched the video, join the partnership if you haven’t already. Help us raise public awareness and educate patients, families, and consumers about the importance of making care safer and better coordinated.