TMA EVPGram

At a joint news conference at the TMA building this morning, TEXPAC announced its endorsement of Gov. Rick Perry for reelection in 2010. “The TEXPAC Board of Directors endorsed Governor Perry because of his unwavering support and defense of Texas’ medical liability reforms and his efforts to protect the sacred patient-physician bond,” TMA President Bill Fleming, MD, said. “We appreciate his guidance to ensure prompt payment by health insurance companies, and his strong support to provide physicians meaningful and real opportunities to serve in rural and underserved areas.” Other legislative, congressional, and judicial endorsements the TEXPAC Board made last month will be announced in coming weeks in conjunction with the candidates’ campaigns.

At the end of a week in which we expect the U.S. House of Representatives to debate the immense Affordable Health Care for America Act and a separate bill (PDF) to repeal Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, the American Medical Association House of Delegates meets in Houston. On the delegates’ agenda are four pivotal resolutions (PDF) that could enhance or reverse AMA’s positions on health system reform legislation. In numerical order, they are:

• Resolution 203, which calls on AMA to “promote to the fullest, at each and every opportunity,” AMA’s ruling policies on health system reform, which led the association to support an earlier version of the Affordable Health Care Act this summer;
• Resolution 206, which directs AMA to promote Texas-style health care liability reforms and ensure that any health system reform legislation not preempt existing strong state laws;
• Resolution 208, which calls on AMA to maintain its “unwavering and bold efforts to promote health care reform” in this country; and
• Resolution 209, which would have AMA “actively oppose” any legislation that contains — among other things — a public option health insurance program or a short-term patch for the SGR, or that does not include “proven medical liability reforms.”

The Texas Delegation to the AMA is reviewing closely these and all other items of business before the AMA house and will take its positions based on TMA policy. You can follow all the action — including live coverage of key events such as the health system reform update at 4 pm on Saturday, Nov. 7 — on TMA’s Blogged Arteries.

The video of the forum for all six of the candidates seeking to replace U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has been a big hit on YouTube, with more than 300 hits. You can watch a replay of the two-hour event — broken into 13 bite-size chunks — on the TMA Web site.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made it official. Unless the U.S. Congress takes action — as part of global health system reform or in a separate bill — physicians’ Medicare and TriCare payments will be cut by 21.2 percent starting Jan. 1, 2010. The cuts are mandated by the SGR formula in current law. “Access to care and choice of physician for seniors, baby boomers, and military families is at serious risk — and Congress must fix the payment formula once and for all this year,” said AMA President Jim Rohack, MD. CMS published the final rule, which also includes changes in the Physicians Quality Reporting Initiative and formalizes bonuses and penalties for meaningful use of electronic medical record systems. Here’s the status of legislation to repeal the SGR:

• After the U.S. Senate refused to take up S 1776 last month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that senators will consider new Medicare payment legislation after passage of a health system reform bill.
• On the House side, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) unveiled a separate bill to replace the SGR with a new formula based in part on physicians’ cost of providing Medicare services. The speaker has not announced whether the House will combine the bill with the Affordable Health Care Act or take it up as separate legislation.

Most people in good health who get the seasonal or H1N1 flu will be sick for several days but will recover. However, the TMA Flu Fighters say that should not prevent people from getting vaccinated for the flu. Deaths, severe disease, and hospitalizations have occurred in previously healthy persons of all ages. Stay up to date on all the latest through the TMA Flu Fighters’ Hotline.

Very little mudslinging, a good bit of humor, and plenty of respect for physicians marked the first forum for all six prospective candidates for the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Texas. Hosted by TEXPAC and moderated by former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, the forum gave the four men and two women the chance to share their views on health system reform, Washington politics, and other key issues. The race will be to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is expected to resign soon to campaign full-time for governor. All six told the packed audience at the TMA/TEXPAC/specialty society legislative retreat in Frisco that Congress ought to heed the advice of physicians on health system reform. The six candidates are Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, State Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), former Texas Comptroller John Sharp, Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, and Houston Mayor Bill White. Couldn’t be there? You can watch video of the entire event online.

More than 100 physician and TMA Alliance leaders at the TMA/TEXPAC/specialty society legislative retreat began laying the groundwork for medicine’s strategic priorities in the 2011 session of the Texas Legislature. Among their recommendations, we need to:

• Push for transparency and accountability in health insurers’ medical loss ratio reporting and prescription drug formulary tiering;
• Require regulation of silent PPOs;
• Provide real-time benefit information from health insurance companies;
• Continue to defend the 2003 medical liability reforms;
• Advocate strongly to preserve existing Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility in light of an expected multibillion-dollar budget deficit in the 2011 session;
• Push lifestyle changes to battle obesity and cancer, improve immunizations, and promote wellness and safety;
• Work for an adequately funded, strong and fair Texas Medical Board (TMB), with due process protections for physicians under investigation;
• Help rural physicians maintain their practices while protecting physicians’ clinical autonomy;
• Restore Medicaid funding for graduate medical education;
• Put advanced practice nurses and physician assistants under the supervision of TMB; and
• Educate the public and lawmakers that, regardless of what happens in national health system reform, millions of newly insured patients will have difficulty finding a physician if physicians are not compensated adequately.

Specialty society representatives also laid out their priorities for the 2011 Texas Legislature. The family of medicine must continue to work together in promoting issues on which we agree and finding common ground when specialties have different points of view.