Healthcare Daily Digest for 5 March: Will Paul Ryan's Budget Change Everything About Healthcare?

Hey, anyone know what our good friend and failed Romney co-runner Paul Ryan’s been up to lately? Do you think he’s been taking some time, some alone time, with his thoughts and feelings? Maybe journaling? Really finding out who Paul really is?

Nope: Paul Ryan and his piercing blue eyes of an ice dragon has been working on a Republican budget that will CHANGE! EVERYTHING!

“Paul Ryan’s budget will show how Republicans can balance a budget that’s trillions of dollars out of whack,” reports Jake Sherman and Jonathan Allen at Politico.com. It also monkeys around with Medicare ages: “Ryan — the House Budget Committee chairman — has privately been floating the idea of allowing his changes to Medicare to kick in for Americans younger than 56. In previous budgets, those 55 and older were exempted from his plan to turn Medicare into a premium-support — or voucher — program.”

This is a plan that Allen and Sherman characterize as having “sharp teeth.”

“Ryan, according to Republicans familiar with his pitch, wants to take a stand on a program they say doesn’t have a future for the next generation of retirees if major reforms aren’t made soon. If the GOP gradually makes the argument to change the program incrementally, they hope the public will begin to accept it.” So those teeth? Are the teeth of patience, apparently. If we do things slowly enough, no one will notice.

For a budget with alleged “sharp teeth” though, “The new Ryan budget isn’t much different than last year’s — or the one from the year before.”

There’s always next year.

Tuesday headlines:

• There’s a Need for CMS to Improve Accuracy of Risk Score Adjustments: It even says so right here.

• It’s a Beautiful Thing When Two Companies Become One Through Merger or Acquisition: “Los Angeles-based buyout shop The Gores Group has completed its acquisition of GE Healthcare Strategic Sourcing from GE Healthcare. Terms of the transaction, which was led by The Gores Small Capitalization Partners, were not disclosed.” It’s sexy because it’s secret.

• Ugh. You Guys Know How I Feel About Futurists: The “chief futurist” (::eyeroll::) over at the Huffington Post (the place for news when you don’t care) wrote a piece about “Ushering in the New Era of Healthcare” that opens with “I’m not a doctor…but I am a patient.”

• Hooray for Nurses!: “The number of registered nurses will grow by 26 percent from 2010 to 2020, according to The U.S. Department of Labor, which is faster than the average growth rate for all other occupations.”

• How the Affordable Care Act Will Actually BENEFIT Us: “The Affordable Care Act will create a healthier population less burdened by excessive medical bills and the fear of economic ruin from getting sick.”

• What’s the Key to Data Security?: Best practices! “Citing the Australian DJs who gained confidential information about the Duchess of Cambridge over the phone, a commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine calls on healthcare organizations to adopt best practices to ensure data privacy and security.”

More Best Practices Here: “While…technological advances are exciting and make caring for patients more effective and efficient, they can also leave hospitals vulnerable to data breaches.”