In a recent New York Times Article, Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, indicated “that he could not guarantee that President Bush's Medicare proposal would include prescription drug benefits for elderly people who remain in the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program.” Although the article noted he “insisted that the elderly would not be forced to join health maintenance organizations, Mr. Thompson left open the possibility that they might need to join some type of private health plan to get drug benefits.” For the complete article please go to www.nytimes.com. For additional information concerning HMO litigation, please visit the HMO Crisis Newsroom.

Former HMO executive and health care consultant, Jim Laurenza challenges physicians to fight back instead of glumly accepting the bundling of CPT codes by insurers as an inevitable part of the reimbursement game. The recent “how to” article in AMEDNEWS went on to note that “though just beginning, progress in challenging bundling is already under way, and industry experts say more change is ahead. Relief, they predict, will happen in three ways: revision of physician contracts, sustained pressure from medical associations and scrutiny of insurer behavior in the nation's courtrooms.” In response the article notes that some HMOs are making changes. For the entire article please go to www.ama-assn.org. For additional information concerning HMO litigation, please visit the HMO Crisis Newsroom.