By Larry Solberg, MD, PhD
2008-09-01
Dr. Solberg is Chair of the ASH Committee on Practice.
The ASH Committee on Practice participated in a successful Capitol
Hill Day last May, in which members of the Committee met with
Congressional members to discuss Medicare and physician reimbursement
issues. The day started in the office of Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) who
chairs the Senate Finance Committee and has responsibility for the
Medicare program. Our committee also met with Billy Wynne, Health
Counsel of the Senate Finance Committee on Health and Welfare. The
basic message from our committee to Congress was simple: For the sake
of our patients and the hematologists who see them, we need Congress to
avert the scheduled 10.6 percent physician payment cuts. The Senator's
staff discussed some of the broad policy challenges in the Medicare
program for physician reimbursement, particularly the need to eliminate
the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula mechanism, which is used as a
vehicle for physician payment updates, and replace it with a process
that accurately reflects the true cost of practice. Other specific
reimbursement issues confronting hematologists, such as reimbursement
for radioimmunotherapy agents and cognitive services, were discussed.
Thanks to ongoing communication between the Society and Congress, in
addition to grassroots advocacy, Sen. Baucus' staff was well aware of
ASH's concerns and assured us that he would work "to make the
legislation right for hematologists."
Following that discussion, members of the Committee on Practice
dispersed throughout the hallways of the Senate and House of
Representatives office buildings to attend various meetings. One
particularly poignant visit was when Committee members Sam Silver, MD,
PhD, David Henry, MD, and Loann Peterson, MD, ran into Sen. Arlen
Specter (R-PA) getting off the elevator. Sen. Specter is the ranking
member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education; he has been one of the Society's most vocal
champions for increased funding for biomedical research and other
health-care issues. The ASH members approached Sen. Specter and
identified themselves as members of the American Society of Hematology.
Sen. Specter smiled and said he liked hematologists and then proceeded
to lead our doctors off to the side of the hallway where he wanted to
talk with them himself. Drs. Silver, Henry, and Peterson explained
their concerns with Medicare and that they were counting on his help.
Since the May Practice Committee Hill Day, the Senate and House of
Representatives passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and
Providers Act of 2008 over President Bush's objections and veto. The
new law replaced the scheduled Medicare cut with a .5 percent payment
update for the remainder of 2008 and extended reimbursement for
radioimmunotherapies. Sen. Specter also worked closely with Sen. Tom
Harkin (D-IA) to pass a supplemental appropriations bill that included
an additional $150 million for the NIH and is working on a second
appropriations supplemental bill offering additional monies to the NIH.
While the Committee on Practice's Capitol Hill Day cannot claim sole
credit for these accomplishments, clearly, the opportunity to influence
legislation is enhanced when ASH members come to Washington to share
the Society's perspectives on Capitol Hill.
I encourage all ASH members to join the ASH Grassroots Network
and participate in Society advocacy efforts. I would like to invite all
hematologists who will be attending our 50th anniversary ASH meeting in
San Francisco to attend our Practice Forum
on Saturday, December 6, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. The forum will give
hematologists an opportunity to hear from ASH leadership for Government
Affairs and Practice — specifically how 2009 looks and what impact the
elections may or may not have on our practice environment.
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