CMS Posts 2014 Open Payments Financial Data

From CMS Reports
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted data for all 2014 financial transactions between doctors and drug and medical device manufacturers as part of the Open Payments program. The Open Payments data includes information about 11.4 million financial transactions attributed to over 600,000 physicians and more than 1,100 teaching hospitals, totaling $6.49 billion.
The Open Payments program, created by the Affordable Care Act, requires drug and device manufacturers to report transfers of value (i.e., payments, honoraria or research grants) to health care providers, as well as other industry-related investments providers may have. The program relies on voluntary participation by physicians and teaching hospitals to review the information submitted by these companies. Registered physicians and teaching hospitals reviewed nearly 30 percent of the total value of the reported data.
Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt said, “Consumer access to information is a key component of delivery system reform and making the health care system perform better. In year 2, Open Payments is now a highly searchable resource to provide transparency to over 1 1/2 years’ worth of financial transactions between drug and device companies and physicians and teaching hospitals. This is part of our larger effort to open up the health care system to consumers by providing more information to help in their decision making.”
For all 2014 and 2013 data, CMS was able to validate that 98.8 percent of all records submitted in the Open Payments system contained accurate identifying information about the associated covered recipient. Records that could not be verified to align to an individual covered recipient were rejected and were not processed by the system. CMS will continue to update the Open Payments website annually with data collected from the previous year.


Trustees: Medicare Solvent Until 2030

The Medicare Trustees have projected the trust fund that finances Medicare’s hospital insurance coverage will remain solvent until 2030, unchanged from last year, but with an improved long-term outlook from last year's report. Under this year’s projection, the trust fund will remain solvent 13 years longer than the Trustees projected in 2009, before the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Read the report.
Per-enrollee Medicare spending growth has been low, averaging 1.3 percent over the last five years. In 2014, Medicare expenditures were slightly lower for Part A and Part D, and higher for Part B than previously estimated. Over the next decade, and partially due to the cost-containment provisions in the Affordable Care Act, per-enrollee Medicare spending growth (4.2 percent) is expected to continue to be lower than the overall growth in overall health expenditures (5.1 percent).
In 2014, Medicare provided health insurance coverage to 53.8 million people. Total Medicare expenditures were $613 billion, and income was $599 billion. The average Medicare benefit per enrollee was $12,432, about 2 percent higher than last year. Medicare outlays in 2014 were slightly lower for Part A and Part D, and higher for Part B than previously estimated.
While Part B premiums will be finalized later this year, approximately 70 percent of beneficiaries are expected not to see a premium increase in 2016 because it is projected that there will be no cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits. The remaining 30 percent of beneficiaries would pay a higher premium based on this projection. These include only individuals who enroll in Part B for the first time in 2016; enrollees who do not receive a Social Security benefit; beneficiaries that are directly billed for their Part B premium; and current enrollees who pay an income related higher premium. Decisions about premium changes will be made in October and depend on a variety of factors.
The Medicare Trustees are Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell, Treasury Secretary and Managing Trustee Jacob Lew, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, and Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin. Two other members are public representatives who are appointed by the President are Charles Blahous III and Robert Reischauer. CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt is designated as secretary of the board.