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DJP Update 3-4-2010 A message from 70,000
physicians to Congress about Medicare Payment System
& The Right to Privately Contract without Penalty;
and a few more things!
The letter below was sent today to the U.S. House of
Representatives. The same letter was addressed and sent
to the Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid and
the Senate Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell plus
the entire Senate.
The message in the letter is long-standing AMA
policy (since 1993) and among the highest advocacy
issues of AMA as voted by the policy-making body of the
AMA, the House of Delegates. (Reformatting of the names
and addresses for this email)
The message also respects Liberty which has been the
policy of These United States of America since 1776.
Stay tuned as the health system reform debate is
nearing the holiday break of Congress and the sponsors
of the senate and house bills are pushing for passage
of these bills with disaster in the details prior to
the March 29 - April 11 recess.
The focus is on the House of Representatives at the
moment and you can be certain that a vote will be taken
the moment the whip count shows enough votes for
passage regardless of the day or hour. Lots going on
behind the scenes in Washington, DC!
Call everyone you know in the House of
Representatives and tell them not to pass the Senate
bill! The vote could be very close.
March 4, 2010
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
The Honorable John Boehner
Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515 Washington
Subject: Medicare Physician Payment System and
Private Contracting
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Boehner:
For nearly a year, the Coalition of State Medical
and National Specialty Societies, representing more
than 70,000 physicians, has expressed deep concern with
the country’s broken and unsustainable medical
payment system. Congress’ failure to adopt a
permanent solution to prevent draconian cuts in
Medicare payments to physicians affirms our concerns.
Clearly, the current system is not financially
sustainable. To help stabilize the Medicare system and
ensure that seniors have timely access to care by the
physician of their choice, we urge you to repeal the
Sustainable Growth Rate and replace it with a new
payment system that allows patients and physicians to
privately contract without penalty.
The right to privately contract is a touchstone of
American freedom and liberty and all patients should
have the right to choose their doctor and negotiate the
fees for those services without penalty. Medicare
patients should not be required to forego the value of
their Medicare insurance benefit because they privately
contract with the physician of their choice; nor should
physicians who privately contract with Medicare
patients be required to opt-out of Medicare altogether
for two years. Furthermore, in some instances, under
current law it is actually illegal for a physician to
waive or reduce his or her fee. By allowing patients to
privately contract with their physicians, patients will
have access to a greater number of physicians. In
addition,
Congress can obtain budget certainty by establishing
payment rates and giving physicians and patients the
freedom to privately contract for any difference.
In closing, we believe that empowering patients and
physicians with the right to privately contract is both
an optimum and sustainable solution when it comes to
the Medicare funding crisis. Please contact David Cook,
Executive Director of the Medical Association of
Georgia (dcook@mag.org 678-303-9251), if you have
questions, need additional information or would like to
discuss this concept in greater detail with the members
of our coalition.
Thank you for considering our request.
Sincerely,
Medical Association of the State of Alabama
Medical Society of the District of Columbia
Florida Medical Association
Medical Association of Georgia
Kansas Medical Society
Medical Society of New Jersey
South Carolina Medical Association
American Academy of Facial Plastic and
Reconstructive Surgery
American Association of Neurological Surgeons
American Society of General Surgeons
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
Daniel H. Johnson, Jr., MD
AMA President 1996-1997
Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD, FACS
AMA President 2003-2004
William G. Plested, III, MD, FACS
AMA President 2006-2007
cc: Members, United States House of
Representatives
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A few other items you may find of interest:
-- Watch Senator Blanche Lincoln's new TV ad. She
says she doesn't answer to the Democratic Party.
Interesting.
https://secure.democratsenators.org/o/40/p/wfc/dscc/senators/lincoln/donate?donate_page_KEY=6518
-- Read the transcript of the exchange between Paul
D. Ryan of Wisconsin, ranking Republican on the Budget
Committee, and President Obama at the Health Summit
Congressman Ryan is full of facts. The CQ transcript
is posted at the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022504074.html
-- Some recent tweets you may enjoy; click on the
links for the articles:
http://twitter.com/djpNEWS
#TomHanks toasts #NewOrleans"...most special place
on planet"#NOLA.com at#WWIIMuseum movie ThePacific
http://tinyurl.com/yjc3brk
about 12 hours ago via Echofon
Via #TheSaints New Orleans Saints turn New Orleans
into America's City - NOLA.com:
http://tinyurl.com/ylomebx
about 14 hours ago via Echofon
Like a Greek tragedy play RT @washingtonpost
#DavidBroder: The fable of Emanuel the Great:
http://bit.ly/9WvXGi #Obama
about 14 hours ago via Echofon
RT @TheEconomist #BarackObama unveils his final
strategy for pushing health reform in America
http://econ.st/aXVugy#economist
about 14 hours ago via Echofon
Advantage of using #Twitter for news even when you
don't post tweets #NYTimes
http://tinyurl.com/ygmbtqk
3:08 PM Mar 3rd via web
Stay well,
Donald
P.S. Stop by http://twitter.com/djpNEWS and sign up
for DJPNEWS to get tweet alerts that may not make it
into DJP Updates.
Also, recent selected DJP Updates can be found at:
http://www.intrepidresources.com/html/djp_update/
Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD
Intrepid Resources® / The Medical Risk Manager Company
5000 West Esplanade Ave., #432
Metairie, Louisiana USA 70006
504-455-5895 office
504-455-9392 fax
DJP@intrepidresources.com
www.intrepidresources.com
www.onleadership.us
This DJP Update goes to 2207 leaders in Medicine
representing all of the State Medical Associations and
over 100 Specialty Societies plus some other friends.
You can share it with your members and it has the
potential to reach 800,000 physicians.
To join the list, send me an email stating "Join DJP
Update" To get off the list, state "Remove DJP Update".
Best to put in Subject line so I can do immediately.
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