A Medical Device Daily

The U.S. Census Bureau has revised its 2005 data on the uninsured, after discovering the initial data was off by 1.8 million people. The new numbers show 44.8 million people were uninsured as of 2005, and not 46.6 million as previously reported.

While the error was blamed on a software glitch, experts with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA; Washington/Dallas) said the mistake points to bigger issues with the census data.

"The way the U.S. Census Bureau reports the number of uninsured is misleading at best and essentially meaningless at worst," said Devon Herrick, senior fellow with the NCPA. "Being uninsured is usually a transitory state, since most uninsured Americans are only without coverage for a short time. Conversely, the Census report implies this is a chronic state."

"The problem with the Census is it tends to track the uninsured at one point in time. People tend to respond with their current insurance status, even when asked if they lacked coverage for the entire year," continued Herrick.
Census figures showing 44.8 million uninsured likely overstate the chronically uninsured. For instance, a recent Congressional Budget Office report places the actual numbers of full-year uninsured at between 21 million and 31 million.
The organization cited several reasons for absence of uninsurance, such as: one-third of uninsured live in households earning more than $50,000 per year; 12 million people qualify for government programs, like SCHIP and Medicaid, but have not enrolled; and an estimated 10 undocumented million are immigrants.

"It's good news that there are fewer uninsured Americans than previously thought," said Herrick. "But we have to remember that data like this can be virtually meaningless. To truly effect a meaningful reduction in the number of the uninsured, we need to start with getting a better understanding of who is chronically uninsured, and why."
The NCPA is a non-profit research institute that says it advocates "private solutions to public policy problems.

Breast, cervical screening funding passed

Congress last week passed the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, a program that provides low-income women access to breast and cervical cancer screening, and reduces health disparities among the racial and ethnic minorities who represent about half of all women screened through the program.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure (Washington) said that has been lobbying for the past three years for reauthorization of the act.

The Act reauthorizes the program at a funding level of $225 million in 2008, increasing annually to $275 million in 2012.

Additionally, Komen for the Cure said it worked with Congress to include a provision allowing selected states to modify program requirements in order to reach more women.

The organization said that when breast cancer is detected early — and while still confined to the breast — the relative survival rate is more than 95%. It projects that "timely" mammogram screening could prevent 15%-30% of all deaths from breast cancer in women over age 40.

Grassley fears CDC censorship

The Center for Disease and Control and Prevention (Atlanta) reportedly has refused a request from Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, for a briefing by agency ombudsmen about efforts to improve employee morale at the CDC.

Morale problems at the CDC have been subject by ongoing coverage by the Atlanta Journal Constitution over the past year. And the paper recently reported that Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, in March sent a letter to Grassley saying that the two people CDC hired to serve as interim ombudsmen — Joseph McDade and Gerald Naehr — believe that briefing the senator would violate standards of practice for ombudsmen and leave them unable to perform their jobs effectively.

She wrote, "While I am respectful of your desire to get further information, I am also sensitive to these principles — especially because the CDC's Ombudsman Office is in a critical stage of development."

In response, Grassley sent a letter to Gerberding warning her concerning federal laws against interference with a congressional investigation. Grassley also questioned the reason for the refusal of his request and the credibility of the ombudsmen with CDC employees.

He wrote, "I fully intend to exercise my oversight responsibilities to ensure the success and integrity of the ombudsman effort."

In a statement, Grassley said, "It's very important that the new ombudsmen establish themselves as a force that's independent from the CDC director and a trustworthy place where CDC employees can turn. Hunkering down, except for meetings with the director, sends the wrong signal."

Issuing a response to that, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said, "We have and will continue to cooperate with Senator Grassley's office, and if there's any impression on the senator's part that Dr. Gerberding is stonewalling, nothing could be further from the truth."

Grassley has previously issued warnings to Andrew Von Eschenbach, head of the FDA, concerning statements by Eschenbach possibly interpreted as discouraging FDA staff from expressing disagreements and concerns with FDA policies.

Aides: no congressional HIT action this year

Health information technology (HIT) legislation likely will not be a priority this year, congressional aides from each party said last week during a forum sponsored by Erickson Retirement Communities, according to a recent report by CongressDaily.

According to the article in CongressDaily, the aides acknowledged congressional support for legislation creating standards for electronic health records, but that "time and money would be huge barriers to doing anything this year."

The aides, who asked not to be identified, said that SCHIP reauthorization, a scheduled 10% cut in Medicare physician payments and Medicare prescription drug benefit oversight likely would dominate the legislative agenda for the rest of this year.

Another barrier cited was disagreements between the House and Senate over anti-kickback language, the time frame for implementing new healthcare billing codes, and the specifics of patient privacy protections.

One of the aides said, "We remain optimistic Congress can move health IT legislation this year or next year."

A nationwide poll presented by Erickson Retirement Communities found that 70% of U.S. voters favor expanding use of EHRs, and about two-thirds incorrectly assume their health-care providers already have adopted the technology.