Strong majority of Californians support requiring vaccinations for school children Some of the key findings in a statewide survey published on June 3 showed that a majority of those surveyed agreed with Senate Bill 277 (Pan), a bill sponsored by the California Medical Association that would eliminate personal belief exemptions and require parents to vaccinate their children before enrolling them in school. According to a survey released yesterday by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), two-thirds of Californians (67 percent) and public school parents (65 percent) say children should not be allowed to attend unless they are vaccinated. Majorities ... June 15, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, State Legislation, Vaccination, Advocacy, I Heart Immunity 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA supports bill to eliminate RAC incentives that cause punitive and burdensome auditing The California Medical Association (CMA) has announced its support of a bill introduced in Congress on May 22 that would reform the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) system. It is titled the Fair Medical Audits Act of 2015 and was introduced by North Carolina Congressman George Holding. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 established the Medicare RAC program to combat fraud and waste in the Medicare system. Initially launched in 2005 as a demonstration project in three states (California, Florida and New York), the Centers for ... June 2, 2015 Medicare Advocacy, Federal Legislation, Medicare, Recovery Audit Program 0 0 Comment Read More »
California Medical Association supports the Fair Medical Audits Act of 2015 The California Medical Association (CMA) issued a strong endorsement for the “Fair Medical Audits Act of 2015,” introduced today by U.S. Representative George Holding of North Carolina. The legislation addresses many concerns that physicians have with regard to the extraordinary lack of transparency and expensive, time-consuming and often unfair processes that plague the current Medicare audit program. Representative Holding declared it time to fix the broken audit program: “Put simply, patients achieve the best health outcomes when practicing physicians do just that – practice medicine. My bill will bring transparency ... May 26, 2015 Medicare Federal Legislation, Medicare, Recovery Audit Program, Advocacy, Audits 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA urges physicians to thank Congress for SGR vote Congress was able to put differences aside and overwhelmingly pass H.R. 2—historic bipartisan, bicameral Medicare reform legislation—once and for all! The California members of Congress who supported H.R. 2 deserve a hearty "thank you" for their bold action to repeal Medicare's broken sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and ensure significant reforms are made to Medicare, shifting the focus to better care and better patient outcomes. H.R.2 also extends the expiring Children’s Health Insurance Program. For more details on the bill, click here for the California Medical Association’s (CMA) summary. Only two ... April 29, 2015 Medicare Advocacy, Medicare, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate, Federal Legislation 0 0 Comment Read More »
San Francisco approves historic ordinance to ban tobacco use in county, city ballparks The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a first-of-its-kind ordinance against tobacco on Tuesday, prohibiting the use of all tobacco products at baseball venues within the county and city. The measure, which includes smokeless tobacco products in its ban, was passed with unanimous approval. It would affect both players and fans at ballparks and athletic fields — including AT&T Park — and take effect on January 1, 2016. However, it first needs final approval from the Board of Supervisors and a signature from Mayor Ed Lee. The final vote is ... April 23, 2015 General Public Health, Tobacco, Advocacy 0 0 Comment Read More »
Congress passes Medicare payment reform and eliminates SGR Last week, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2 with a 92-to-8 vote, which will completely overhaul the Medicare payment program. This move, which follows the U.S. House of Representatives’ near-unanimous vote two weeks ago, is a monumental, bipartisan action taken by Congress that negates the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). President Obama signed it into law on April 16. The California Medical Association (CMA), along with the American Medical Association (AMA) and other health care organizations, have been fighting to ... April 23, 2015 Medicare Advocacy, CPLH, Medicare, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate, California Physician's Legal Handbook 0 0 Comment Read More »
Match Day keeps some new doctors in California, sends others out-of-state Friday, March 20, on National Match Day, California’s graduating medical students learned whether they can begin practicing medicine here – or if they must leave the state to begin their careers. The National Resident Matching Program matches graduating medical students with residency programs using a mathematical algorithm that pairs the rank-ordered preferences of applicants and program directors to produce a “best fit” for filling available training positions. However, this year, more than 41,000 medical school seniors and graduates applied for only 30,000 available residency positions. “Match Day is a pivotal point ... March 23, 2015 General Advocacy, Match Day, Residents and Fellows, Graduate Medical Education, Physician Workforce 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA leaders converge on Capitol Hill to advocate for Medicare fix This week, 25 California Medical Association (CMA) physician leaders were in Washington, D.C., as part of the American Medical Association’s Legislative Week to urge Congress to enact the bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) and institute a new payment system. The group also asked Congress to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, formerly known as Healthy Families, which is set to expire September 2015. Medicare SGR Last year, both houses of Congress were very close to a permanent repeal of the badly broken SGR ... March 2, 2015 Medicare Federal Legislation, Medicare, SGR, Advocacy, Sustainable Growth Rate 0 0 Comment Read More »
$10 million reasons to be a CMA member The California Medical Association’s (CMA) Center for Economic Services (CES) has now recouped $10 million from payors on behalf of CMA member physicians. These monies, recovered over the last five years, represent actual physician reimbursements that would have likely gone unpaid without the intervention of the CES team. Founded in 1999, CES provides CMA members with one-on-one assistance for billing, contracting and payment problems that may arise. With more than 125 years of combined medical practice operations experience, CES staff helps members with issues ranging from underpayment or denials ... February 5, 2015 General Payors, Reimbursement, Value of Membership, Advocacy 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight: Jan. 5, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature .-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hot Button Health Care As lawmakers return to Sacramento this week, much is still to be decided about the future of health care reform. State legislators will deal with a number of hot-button issues in the first half of 2015, many of which will have dramatic impacts on California’s health care policy and potentially the future success of the Affordable Care Act. It all begins on Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown ... January 6, 2015 General CMA Capitol Insight, Health Care Reform, Advocacy, Anthony York 0 0 Comment Read More »
