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Tell Congress: Fix, Don't Freeze, Medicare Rates
The latest scuttlebutt from Washington is that Congress will likely put another short-term patch on the leaky Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula rather than devise a long-term fix for physicians’ Medicare payments. That means we may avoid the 21-percent cut in fees for a few more months. It’s currently scheduled to kick in on March 1. We need to stop the cuts and install a rational Medicare physician payment system that automatically keeps up with the cost of running a practice and is backed by a fair, stable funding formula. In an e-mail and prerecorded video sent to all physician members, TMA President Bill Fleming, MD, urges Texas physicians to ask Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn and their U.S. representative “for a commitment, a solid promise, to support a fair, permanent fix to the Medicare payment fiasco now – no ifs, ands, or buts.” Use the TMA Grassroots Action Center for talking points and a very easy way to share your thoughts and concerns with our leaders in Washington.
Shortened Shelf Life Reported in Certain H1N1 Vaccine
Sanofi Pasteur, Inc., has announced 50 lots of monovalent 2009 (H1N1) influenza vaccine in prefilled syringes will have a shorter expiration period than noted on the label. These lots should be used by Feb. 15, 2010. The Texas Department of State Health Services (PDF) provides additional information on discarding wasted vaccine. Sanofi Pasteur previously announced a related voluntary recall of some of the H1N1 pediatric vaccine (0.25 mL, for 6-35 month olds) in prefilled syringes due to reduced potency. (Feb. 5, 2010)
Obama Still Wants Health System Reform
The Democrats' loss of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate has placed health system reform in question. President Obama says he is still committed to reform, but reports out of Washington say he may try to pass smaller, less-controversial reform legislation. (Action, Feb. 1, 2010)
Share Your Haiti Stories With Us
If you're among the many Texas physicians who volunteered or are planning to volunteer to treat the thousands of victims of the earthquake in Haiti, we want to know about it. (Action, Feb. 1, 2010)
Comptroller Offers Tax Waiver
Watch your mailbox. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has a deal that might interest you. More... (Action, Feb. 1, 2010)
Keep Advance Directives Act, TMA Says
Repealing the Texas Advance Directives Act "is not good public policy," TMA and the Texas Hospital Association (THA) say in a letter to Gov. Rick Perry and his Republican primary challenger Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. The associations wrote the letter after a recent gubernatorial debate in which an audience member asked them about possibly changing the law but made several inaccurate statements.
Senate Shakeup Puts Focus on SGR, Health Insurance Reform
The Democrats’ surprise loss of the late Sen. Teddy Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts left Washington in what-do-we-do-now mode on health system reform. Absent a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the Obama administration is now reportedly considering a strategy that involves smaller, less-controversial pieces of legislation. We will continue to press representatives and senators to “keep what’s good and fix what’s broken” in our health care systems. TMA-supported health insurance industry reforms — including stronger consumer protections and the prohibition of policies that contain a preexisting condition exclusion — are among those concepts under consideration as stand-alone bills.
The American Medical Association and AARP, meanwhile, launched a television ad campaign urging Congress to rewrite Medicare’s broken Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula before 21-percent cuts in physicians’ Medicare payments begin on March 1. “The Congressional Record is replete with statements by Senators from both sides of the aisle calling for permanent Medicare physician payment reform,” AMA and AARP wrote to House and Senate leaders. “What is missing, however, is action. As the nation’s largest organizations representing physicians and older Americans, we urge you to support passage of legislation to permanently repeal the SGR.” Physicians have until March 17 to make their Medicare participation decisions for 2010. To help you decide, TMA has developed a new Webinar that outlines your choices — and their consequences — and an interactive tool to help you estimate the financial impact of Medicare’s payment changes on your practice. (Jan. 25, 2010)
Medicare Fee Schedule Still Stings
Congress delayed for two months the 21.2-percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians that was supposed to take effect Jan. 1, but other elements of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2010 Physician Fee Schedule still affect your practice. More...(Jan. 13, 2009)
Medicare Participation Deadline Extended
Congressional action to stop the 21.2-percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians on Jan. 1 prompted the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to extend the 2010 participation enrollment deadline until March 17. (Action, Dec. 31, 2009)
TMA Backs Banning Discretionary Clauses
TMA is asking State Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin to use his discretion and ban Texas insurance companies from hiding behind discretionary clauses in their policies. Such clauses, already outlawed in 22 states, give the insurers free rein to interpret policy terms and evaluate a patient's claim for benefits any way they choose. (Action, Dec. 31, 2009)
Need Ethics Credit?
TMA's Physician Oncology Education Program (POEP) has posted the podcast "Tobacco Intervention and the Health Care Provider." The podcast discusses patient counseling, pharmacotherapies, and the new e-cigarettes. (Action, Dec. 31, 2009)
Medicare Physician Fee Cuts Delayed
Cuts in Medicare payments to physicians in 2010 were delayed until March when the U.S. Senate approved a $636 billion military appropriations bill. (Action, Dec. 19, 2009)
CIGNA Warns of Electronic Payment Scam
Physicians who provide durable medical equipment services for Medicare patients should be aware of a scam that may target them. (Action, Dec. 15, 2009)
Member Survey Results Support TMA Decision to Not Back Senate Health Reform Bill
Texas physicians and medical students say America’s health system is in need of reform, but they don’t prescribe radical change, and they believe the U.S. Congress’ current treatment plan will do more harm than good.
Texas Doctors: “Senate Health Plan Bad Medicine for Our Patients”
After careful analysis of both the good and bad provisions of the U.S. Senate health system reform bill (HR 3590), the Texas Medical Association has determined that it will not support the bill until it undergoes some necessary and significant changes. (Nov. 21)
Workers' Comp Conversion Factors
Thanks to TMA's continuing efforts to improve the workers' compensation system for physicians and patients, the 2010 workers' compensation Medical Fee Guideline conversion factors will increase. (Action, Nov. 16, 2009)
TEXPAC Endorses Gov. Rick Perry for Reelection
Calling Governor Perry a sound leader on patient care issues, TEXPAC, the political arm of the Texas Medical Association (TMA), announced today that the organization has endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry for reelection in 2010. More... (Nov. 2, 2009)
FTC Delays Red Flags Rule Until June
Congressional pressure has prompted the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to delay implementation of its "red flags rule" until June 1. Agency officials said in a news release it postponed the rule at the request of members of Congress. It had been scheduled to take effect Nov. 1. (Action, Nov. 2, 2009)
Senate Fails to Act on Medicare
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday fell short of the 60 votes necessary to begin debate on S 1776 by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the "Medicare Physician Fairness act of 2009." The motion failed on a vote of 47-53. Both senators from Texas – John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison – voted "no" along with all of their Republican colleagues and numerous Democrats in a roll-call vote whose outcome was known even before it began. More...
Report: Variations in Health Costs Driven by Economic and Health Factors
Poverty and poor health, not pervasive overtreatment and overtesting, are the causes of much of the geographic variation in health care spending in the United States, according to a new report from the Physicians’ Foundations.
TMA "Deeply Troubled" by House Health Reform Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives' proposal to reform the nation's health care system is inadequate because it doesn't permanently fix the Medicare payment system and doesn't include medical liability reform, Texas Medical Association leaders say in a letter to the Texas House delegation. (Action Special Report, July 17, 2009)
2009 Legislative Summary
Texas lawmakers followed the Texas Medical Association's Doctor's Orders: TMA's Prescription for a Healthy Texas and took important steps to reform health insurance, increase access to health care, preserve the patient-physician relationship, and improve the health of all Texans during the 81st Texas Legislature. More... (PDF, June 17, 2009)
TMA's Health System Reform Principles
Your Texas Medical Association will not sit and watch as Congress and the Obama administration develop their plans to reform the nation's health care system. Acting at the direction of the TMA House of Delegates, the TMA Select Committee on Health System Reform has developed guiding principles the association will follow as it makes Texas physicians' voices heard in Washington. (Action, June 1, 2009)
Last Published: 2/8/2010
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