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Now is The Time . . . With legislators positioning themselves around Health Care Reform issues, now is the time to call your congressional representatives.

President Obama’s Healthcare Reform Legislation is on the fast track in congress according to legislators PBN staff met with during a recent visit to Capitol Hill. Our staff met Kansas and Missouri legislators and legislative staff during a conference held to outline possible outcomes of health reform legislation.

Proposed Reforms at a High Level

The Obama Administration has outlined high-level goals for Healthcare Reform including three core principles:

1. reduce costs,
2. guarantee choice, including a public option, and
3. ensure quality care for all.

. . . and three related emphases:

1. Reform the health care system (expand coverage, improve quality, lower costs, honor patient choice, and hold insurance companies accountable).
2. Promote scientific and technological advancements (specific to medical research to “find cures for diseases”).
3. Improve preventative care (which specifically calls out both preventative care and “electronic health records”).

What this means for you . . .

All of the legislators we spoke with as well as every presenter at the conference expressed confidence that significant reform legislation will make it through both houses and be enacted as soon as October, 2009. This means legislators will begin debating the specifics of the legislation very soon—so now is the time to contact your representatives, both to help educate them and to express your professional opinion about proposed changes.

Some Specifics . . .

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Proposes Payment and Policy Changes In line with Health Care Reform

Although CMS estimates that the overall outcome of its proposed changes would result in a 6 to 8 percent increase in payments to "general practitioners, family physicians, internists and geriatric specialists," CMS makes two changes in its proposed CY 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) that should give pause to medical specialists:

1. Stop paying on consultation codes, and require specialty providers to use lower-paying E/M codes, instead.
2. Remove physician-administered drugs from the definition (and payment) of "physician services)."

Other proposed provisions, including incentives for successful participation in CMS' electronic prescribing and Physician Quality Reporting programs, education program payments, and some "modest" malpractice insurance payment increases may help offset the costs of other proposed changes.

Who and How to Contact . . .

Here is the official link to contact information for all U.S. Senators of the 111th Congress including emails, phone numbers, and webforms. This page also includes links to an interactive map of the U.S. House of Representatives and a directory of U.S. State Legislatures.

CMS invites direct responses to its proposed CY 2010 MPFS via its website. You'll need to refer to this press release in your response.

For more information, contact Nora Kreader, PBN Client Liaison