Medical News
AMA Health Care Reform Resources
The AMA is continuing its efforts to advocate for improvements in the Senate Finance Committee’s health system reform proposal, as Senate leaders prepare to craft a single Senate package for floor consideration. Attached are talking points the AMA has prepared on three key issues that have not yet been resolved: (1) repealing Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula; (2) the Independent Medicare Advisory Commission; and (3) physician resource use outliers. These documents have also been posted on the AMA’s health system reform microsite, www.hsreform.org. Please feel free to use them in your own advocacy efforts.
Poll Finds Strong Public Support For Medical Tort Reform - From AAOS
A national poll conducted by the nonpartisan reform coalition Clarus Research Group and the non-profit Committee for Economic Development finds that 83 percent of U.S. voters want Congress to address reform of the medical liability system as part of healthcare reform efforts, and 72 percent believe the fear of being sued often changes the way physicians deal with patients. Americans are also aware of the impact of medical liability on the practice of defensive medicine and medical costs. When asked "Do you think the fear of being sued is causing doctors to order unnecessary medical tests and procedures just to protect themselves from possible lawsuits?" 74 percent of respondents answered yes, and more than half of those who responded in the affirmative identified such defensive medical practices as a "major cause" of increased healthcare costs. The poll was conducted via live telephone interviews August 14-18, 2009, with a sample of 1,003 registered voters and a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent. Read more (PDF)…
State and National Advocacy
AAOS State and National Activities: Provides information on issues, advocacy tools and listserves.
ASPS Health Policy and Advocacy: Provides information on key issues, programing and grassroots efforts.
ACS Federal Action Center: Provides information on federal advocacy activities.
Medical Liability Reform
Doctors for Medical Liability Reform: Learn more about the national grassroots effort to protect patient access to care.
American College of Surgeons Medical Reform Action Guide: Tools to allow surgeons to more efficiently and easily contact elected representatives on both the state and federal levels
The Health Coalition on Liability and Access: Advocacy information from a group of medical organizations dedicated to medical liability reform.
AMA Reports and Correspondance
AMA: A Helping Hand : A message from Andrew Gurman, MD, ASSH member and AMA Trustee.
AMA Letter CMS on FY2009 Hospital IPPS Proposed Rule (PDF): Comments regarding proposed changes the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 rates.
AMA Interim Meeting November 8-13, 2007: Highlights from the meeting and other items of interest to hand surgeons.
AMA Interim Meeting November 11-14, 2006: Highlights from the meeting and other items of interest to hand surgeons.
AMA Annual Meeting June, 2006: Highlights from the meeting and other items of interest to hand surgeons.