Medicare

Here’s what we’re reading today at ReportingonHealth: 

"You could nominate Gandhi to be head of CMS and that would be controversial right now." That gem of a quote, from a CBS News story on Donald Berwick’s recess appointment to run Medicaid and Medicare,  comes courtesy of Tom Scully, who held that job under President George W. Bush.

The new 21 percent pay cut to Medicare doctor salaries that went into effect just this past Friday is resulting in an increase in patient refusals. This trend is attracting a lot of coverage today.

Welcome to the inaugural post of Career GPS, ReportingonHealth's new blog about pursuing your passions while looking out for your pocketbook. Here, we will discuss career opportunities, growth and development for journalists and media professionals working on health topics. We'll talk about new kinds of media jobs and have Q&As with people who have taken interesting turns in their careers. Please do join in the discussion by commenting and posting your own entries about your experiences.

The Medical Board of California told Orange County Register health reporter Courtney Perkes that it was rare for a doctor to be disciplined, allowed to return to practice and then disciplined again. She wanted to see if that was actually true, and so she asked the board for every record of a doctor who had petitioned for a license reinstatement.