Weekly Member Update, October 9th, 2009

Here is information from the AMA about three key issues that are still on the table:

·         repealing Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula;

·         the Independent Medicare Advisory Commission; and

·         physician resource use outliers. 

These documents can also be found on the AMA’s health system reform microsite, www.hsreform.org.  Use them in your own advocacy efforts. You can also check out more information on the ASSH advocacy page.

Grassroots Action Needed To Secure Changes In Senate – From AMA

As reported previously, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee reform proposal includes several provisions that concern physicians; the AMA continues to advocate for improvements. In particular, the AMA is asking state and specialty societies to contact their senators on the following three issues:

• Repealing the sustainable growth rate formula, or SGR.
• Inequitable treatment of physician services under the proposed Independent Medicare Advisory Commission.
• Arbitrary Medicare payment reductions for physicians who are "outliers" in resource use.

Talking points on each of these issues have been distributed by e-mail to the Federation and are available on the AMA's health system reform Web site under "Resources for physicians."

Visit the AMA's grassroots action center to send an e-mail to your senator or to join the Physicians' Grassroots Network. Also, the AMA grassroots hotline at (800) 833-6354 can connect you directly to your senator's office.

CBO issues preliminary analysis of Senate Finance Committee proposal – From AMA

On Oct. 7, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its preliminary analysis (PDF) of the health system reform proposal being drafted by the Senate Finance Committee. A final committee vote on the proposal was planned for Oct. 6 but later deferred until the analysis was completed, in response to committee members' uncertainties about its impact and cost. Key findings of the CBO analysis include the following:

• The amended proposal would reduce the federal budget deficit by $81 billion over 10 years, after accounting for $829 billion in new spending and offsetting revenue increases and expenditure cuts.
• By 2019, the number of non-elderly people without insurance would be reduced by about 29 million, so that the share of insured, legal U.S. residents would increase from about 83 percent to 94 percent. Of the estimated 25 million non-elderly U.S. residents who would remain uninsured, about one-third would be unauthorized immigrants.
• The proposed cooperative insurance plans that would be offered through the new health insurance exchanges are viewed as unlikely to establish a significant market presence in many areas.

A final committee vote on the bill will take place Oct. 13. Once the committee gives its final approval, Senate leaders will merge the Senate Finance Committee proposal with a reform package drafted by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) to produce a final bill for consideration on the Senate floor. Key negotiators in this effort include Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and Senate HELP Committee leader Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Originally planned for next week, the schedule for floor debate will likely slip to the week of Oct. 19.

Study Finds Discrepancies In AAOS Conflict of Interest Reporting - From AAOS

An article in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine finds that many physicians fail to disclose all potential conflicts of interest in conjunction with meeting presentations. The study compared the self-disclosure reported by physician presenters, committee members, and board members at the 2008 AAOS Annual Meeting (as recorded in the final program) with reports of payments that five hip and knee implant manufacturers were required to make under settlements with the Department of Justice. Of 344 payments noted by the implant manufacturers, physicians disclosed 245 (71.2 percent). Payments directly related to the topic of their presentation were reported at a higher rate (79.3 percent) than payments that were indirectly (50 percent) or not related (50.8 percent) to the topic. The most common reason for nondisclosure was that the payment was unrelated.

In response to the study, AAOS President Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, noted, "The AAOS has, and will continue, to take steps to ensure that the presentation of information at our Annual Meetings is free from commercial bias and that our members disclose any conflicts of interest. In addition, our education committees will continue to manage such conflicts so that presentations are fair and balanced, without marketing overtones. All authors must disclose ALL potential conflicts of interest--whether related to the topic or not, and the process for reporting potential conflicts has been simplified and made electronic, allowing for year-round updates and reporting. We will continue to evaluate and improve the disclosure process and our member education efforts."
Read the complete study...

Read the AAOS Mandatory Disclosure Policy…

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