Texas Medical Association Seeks Legislative Changes in Texas Health Care
from The Longview News-Journal, Jan. 14, 2009
 Dr. Josie Williams was two months shy of 50 when she made her final student loan payment. At 68, she's president of the Texas Medical Association that represents some 44,000 physicians. Williams met with Longview News-Journal editors on Tuesday to discuss the group's legislative goals. Among them is asking the state to repay more of young physicians' student loans to try to increase the number of primary care doctors. "The average physician is about $150,000 in debt. It's not uncommon for me to see debts running to $230,000," Williams said. "Kids aren't going to work 100 hours a week anymore. But taking care of family and working a reasonable amount of hours, they understand that in primary care, they won't pay back their student loans until they're 50 or 60 years old." More
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Big Health Insurer Agrees to Update Fee Database
from The New York Times, Jan. 13, 2009
In a settlement with one of the nation’s biggest insurers, New York’s attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, has ordered an overhaul of the databases the industry uses to determine how much of a medical bill is paid when a patient uses an out-of-network doctor. A statement from Mr. Cuomo’s office said the industry had engaged in "a scheme to defraud consumers" by systematically underpaying the nation’s patients by hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade. The move, to be announced Tuesday, is part of a settlement with the insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, which operates the industry databases. It results from a yearlong investigation by Mr. Cuomo’s office that concluded the data had understated the true market rates of medical care by up to 28 percent. More
Be a First Tuesdays Lobbyist!
from TMA, Jan. 12, 2009
Physicians at the Capitol, in person, played a key role in organized medicine's victories during the past three sessions of the Texas Legislature. The 2009 session offers a chance to do it again. TMA urges physicians, medical students, and TMA Alliance members to make their presence felt in Austin this year by participating in First Tuesdays at the Capitol. Sponsored by TMA, the TMA Alliance, and the Texas Medical Association Political Action Committee, the First Tuesdays program allows physicians, medical students, and alliance members to become lobbyists for a day on the first Tuesday of each month of the session. Participants will don their white coats and show up en masse at the Capitol to lobby for key issues affecting patients and their physicians. Read all about those issues and TMA's 2009 legislative agenda in "Doctor's Orders: TMA's Prescription for a Healthy Texas." More
Texas Medical Association Joins Las Brisas Effort
from The Corpus Chrisit Caller-Times, Jan. 10, 2009
The Texas Medical Association is backing the Nueces County Medical Society in its effort to encourage a proposed power plant to use cleaner, more expensive technology. Jeffrey Levin, chairman of the Texas Medical Association, wrote a letter in December supporting the local physicians' group and outlining the statewide organization's opposition to coal-fired power plants. The Nueces County Medical Society released the letter at a news conference Friday, along with its letter to local government officials opposing the power plant in its current form. Las Brisas would generate 1,200 megawatts of power through four boilers fueled by petroleum coke, or pet coke, a byproduct of oil refining. More
Lawyer: Texas is Violating Medicaid Access Order
from The Austin American Statesman, Jan. 13, 2009
The lead lawyer representing Texas children in a lawsuit about health care access under Medicaid said the state is violating the terms of a 2007 court order. State officials said they're complying with the order in the case of Frew v. Hawkins, which, among other things, requires Texas to spend $150 million in state funds "toward strategic initiatives to improve ... access to services." Susan Zinn, who represents Texas children on Medicaid, said the court requires that the money be spent in the 2008 and 2009 budget years, but the state plans to spend less than a third of that during that period. More
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Bills Seek Disclosure of Pharmaceutical Companies’ Payments to Doctors
from The Dallas Morning News, Jan. 10, 2009
Texas lawmakers may be ready to force pharmaceutical companies to disclose payments to doctors, which some fear have led to excess prescribing of high-cost, high-risk drugs. Mirroring a national trend, two state lawmakers have filed bills to require drug manufacturers to report all payments to Texas health-care providers – including consulting fees and honoraria, gifts and travel perks. "There's a school of thought that doctors are prescribing expensive, higher-level drugs as a result of these drug companies – which throw elaborate dinners and provide them gifts," said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who filed one of the bills. "We want to make sure there is no inappropriate influence." More
Congress Set to Renew Health Care for Children
from The New York Times, Jan. 12, 2009
Congress is poised to give President-elect Barack Obama a quick victory by passing a bill to provide health insurance to millions of low-income children. The House Democratic leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, said the bill, scheduled for a vote in the House this week, was “very much like” legislation twice vetoed by President Bush in 2007. Legal authority for the program expires on March 31. Congressional Democrats said they had decided to add a major provision allowing states to restore health insurance benefits to legal immigrants under 21, a goal of Hispanic groups since those benefits were terminated in 1996. More
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Medicaid Funding Cuts Unresolved as New Administration Takes Office
from American Medical News, Jan. 12, 2009
Three Bush administration rules limiting federal Medicaid spending will go into effect on April 1 without action by Congress and the Obama administration, but three others could be rescinded by the new administration alone -- including a rule ending federal funding for graduate medical education. The six rules are part of a Bush administration effort to scale back the federal government's Medicaid obligations so the program covers only what President Bush contends is required by law. The new policies would reduce federal spending by at least $12.4 billion over five years. Health care organizations affected by the reductions have argued that the White House and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are overstepping their authority. More
Study: Health Care Overhaul Needn’t Break Bank
from Reuters, Jan. 9, 2009
An analysis of proposals to overhaul U.S. health care by President-elect Barack Obama and members of Congress suggests it is possible to insure all Americans without significantly raising total health spending. Some 46 million Americans, or about 15 percent of the population, have no health insurance. While Americans pay more per person for care than any other industrialized country, many studies show they have poorer health, suffer more medical mistakes and are generally less happy with their medical care. The report, released on Friday by the Commonwealth Fund, suggests plans outlined by Obama and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus could cover almost all Americans. But to hit that mark, they would need to require all Americans to obtain coverage and include efforts to cut administrative costs and boost purchasing efficiencies. More
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