NOTABLE & QUOTABLE

Here We Go Again

Although CMS has not yet announced bid winners for the first round of DMEPOS competitive bidding, last month the agency revealed the next 70 MSAs — including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles — and the eight products targeted for round two of the program. Stay tuned for details.

26%

Percentage by which hospital emergency department visits for people ages 65 and older increased between 1993 and 2003.

Source: Annals of Emergency Medicine

90%

Percentage by which hospital bills have increased, from $462 billion in 1997 to $873 billion in 2005.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

$11

billion Amount CMS says its aggressive oversight efforts have reduced improper claim payments, which have decreased from 14.2 percent in 1996, to 4.4 percent in 2006, to 3.9 percent in 2007.

Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

3

Number of years a person who wishes to appeal a Social Security Administration ruling on disability claims can wait for a decision. The wait for an appeals hearing averages 500 days, with a backlog standing at 755,000.

Source: New York Times

$213

The national average daily rate for a private room in a nursing home, $77,745 annually, an increase from $206 per day, or $75,190 annually, in 2006. Assisted living costs remain virtually unchanged at a national monthly average of $2,969 or $35,628 annually compared to $2,968 and $35,616 annually in 2006.

Source: “MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Costs,” MetLife Market Institute in conjunction with LifePlans Inc.