03/24/2009 | Comments Off

Iowa, did you hear that?

I don’t have a transcript or video yet, but Pres. Barack Obama just said in his televised press conference that (paraphrasing): “It is time to start offering [Medicare/Medicaid] reimbursements on quality and not quantity. States should not be rewarded for how many procedures they do.”

For those who are interested in quality health care in Iowa, this is an amazingly wonderful statement to hear. We have truly wonderful health care quality in Iowa, that has been challenged for years because our state’s reimbursement rate is near the bottom of the national rankings.

In particular, increasing the reimbursement rate would make it easier for all of our hospitals (but especially those non-critical access hospitals in rural areas) to attract and maintain physicians.

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Author:Lynda

Lynda is the founder of Essential Estrogen. A freelance journalist, essayist and fiction writer, she is mom to three children, one cantankerous (and possibly immortal) elderly cat and two nearly useless (but mighty cute) Shih Tzus. She's a former Republican turned Democrat who is no longer affiliated with either party. Previously a managing editor with The American Independent News Network, she provided nearly five years of political coverage for The Iowa Independent. Her work has appeared in Salon, RHRealityCheck, the UK Guardian and the Atlantic, and she has been a guest on several regional and national radio programs.
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