December 2006 Practice Update

Congress Halts Medicare Physician Payment Cuts
Congress passed legislation that averted the scheduled five percent Medicare physician payment cut for 2007. The legislation also authorized a voluntary pay-for-performance Medicare program that will begin in July 2007. Details of interest to hematologists and hematologist/oncologists, such as national payment rates for E/M services, hematology/oncology services, and high-volume services are available on the ASH Web site.

Highlights of ASH
Highlights of ASH is geared toward practitioners, fellows, and academicians and is the only "Highlights" meeting that is produced by ASH. Highlights of ASH is taking place on February 9-10, 2007, in Marina Del Rey, CA. Make your plans to attend to ensure you can hear expert analysis of the top abstracts of 2006, discuss real cases with leaders in the field, and network with colleagues while earning category 1 CME credits. The educational program will focus on significant advances with clinical importance and ground-breaking research from the 2006 annual meeting. For more information, visit www.hematology.org/meetings/highlights.

2006 Practice Forum and Reception
State societies collaborated with ASH on the 2006 Practice Forum and Reception. Practitioners attended the session, entitled Pay-for-Performance: Are you Ready? and heard from national and local experts on a variety of pay-for-performance initiatives. Attendees also heard details on the legislation that freezes Medicare reimbursement rates and what it means for hematology and hematology/oncology in 2007. Speakers attended the reception sponsored by Genentech BioOncology/Biogen Idec, which provided an excellent networking opportunity. For more information on the Practice Forum, read the ASH News Daily article.

Medicare Carrier Advisory Committee (MCAC) Meeting
CMS held an MCAC meeting on reconsideration of the Medicare clinical trials policy on December 13. The Committee discussed potential changes to the Medicare clinical trial policy and voted on a number of changes. A proposed policy is expected to be released Spring 2007 for comment. ASH submitted comments on the reconsideration earlier this year and will continue to follow and report developments regarding the Medicare clinical trials policy.

If you have questions, or need more information about the items above, please contact ASH Practice Advocacy Manager, Pamela Ferraro, by e-mail or call 202-776-0544.