Physicians Visit Capitol Hill to Meet with Key Lawmakers on Health Care Reform, Urge Important Changes - Posted 1.12.10

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Andrew LaMar 

Physicians Visit Capitol Hill to Meet with Key Lawmakers on Health Care Reform, Urge Important Changes

Sacramento - A delegation of California's physician leaders is scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C. today to lobby Congress for important changes in health care reform to ensure patients have access to the care they need.

The California Medical Association has launched a campaign urging Congress to include six important provisions in health care reform legislation designed to protect patient access and allow doctors to do their jobs to serve them.

Included in the delegation are Brennan Cassidy, M.D., current CMA president; Dev GnanaDev, M.D., and Anmol Singh Mahal, M.D., past CMA presidents; Paul Phinney, M.D., chair of the CMA Board of Trustees; Jim Hay, speaker of the CMA House of Delegates; James Hinsdale, M.D., and Luther Cobb, M.D., members of the CMA Executive Committee; Alfred Gilchrist, CMA's chief executive officer; and Elizabeth McNeil, CMA's vice president of federal relations.

Congressional leaders are currently negotiating how to merge separate health reform bills passed by the House and Senate. California's physicians want to make sure the final bill includes the funding and framework necessary to give patients access to doctors and real health care coverage, not a false promise.

"Health coverage must ensure that people have access to their doctor, regardless of what kind of plan they have," Cassidy said. "We want members of Congress to know that access to primary, preventative and specialty care is crucial for people to lead healthier lives and avoid long-term health issues, and that's essential to rein in the health care system's costs."

The delegation has meetings scheduled this week with Rep. Henry Waxman (D - Calif.), chairman of House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Rep. Pete Stark (D - Calif.), chairman the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee; and Reps. Mike Thompson (D- Calif.), Doris Matsui (D- Calif.), Anna Eshoo (D- Calif.) and Lois Capps (D- Calif.).

On Monday, physicians across the state began contacting California's congressional leaders and asking them to increase Medicaid's low reimbursement rates. As it is, patients covered by Medicaid in California, known as Medi-Cal, often struggle to find a doctor because rates are so low that only about one third of the state's physicians participate in the program.

Health care legislation passed by the House and Senate dramatically expands eligibility for the program, meaning up to 2 million more patients could enter Medi-Cal, further hampering patient access. The program currently serves 6.5 million poor Californians.

CMA is lobbying for six important improvements to health care reform legislation. They are:

• Repealing Medicare's flawed funding formula known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). That formula would cut funding 40 percent in future years if left in place and would hurt senior citizens' ability to find a doctor to treat them. The viability of Medicare is crucial as millions of baby boomers retire and enter the program. The House bill provides a funding fix, but the Senate bill does not.
• Keeping full congressional authority over Medicare instead of delegating to a committee. The Senate proposed a Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board, which could slash spending and coverage options for senior citizens with little input from others. The House bill does not include such a board.
• Increasing Medicaid's low reimbursement rates. As it is, patients covered by Medicaid in California, known as Medi-Cal, often struggle to find a doctor because rates are so low that only about one third of the state's physicians participate in the program. Both bills dramatically expand eligibility, meaning up to 2 million more patients could enter Medi-Cal, further complicating access. The House bill substantially increases rates, but the Senate bill does not.
• Boosting Medicare payments in 14 high-cost California counties where many physicians are opting out of the program and seniors are having trouble accessing doctors. The House bill provides $300 million to California to update payments in those counties, which are currently classified for rural rates under the federal government's Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI). The Senate does not provide the adjustment.
• Improving quality reporting requirements to track Medicare treatment so they don't mislead patients. It's crucial that those standards provide accurate and meaningful reporting.
• Giving patients the ability to privately contract with doctors, as they have in most other countries.

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The California Medical Association represents more than 35,000 physicians in all modes of practice and specialties. CMA is dedicated to the health of all patients in California.