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1. CMA Releases Statewide Doctor Poll;
91% Say Health Care Is in Big Trouble
A CMA poll released this week reveals that 81 percent of physicians in California, if they had to “do it all over,” would still today choose the practice of medicine. Ninety-one percent of doctors agree, however, that the current health care system is unsustainable. Troubling for the future of patient care in our state, more than half of physicians report having considered leaving the state to practice elsewhere. "We doctors love treating patients, and we love the practice of medicine, but there are many challenges today in just keeping a practice running,” says CMA President and Fremont gastroenterologist Anmol S. Mahal, M.D. “Doctors are very concerned about preserving their relationships with their patients, and we struggle to be able to spend enough time with them to give them adequate care and attention.” These were some of the results of an online survey conducted in April among a representative sample of California doctors, both members and nonmembers. The survey was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates on behalf of CMA. Click here for more information.
Contact: Karen Nikos, 916/444-5532 or knikos@cmanet.org.
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2. Five of Six CMA-Sponsored Bills Pass Assembly
Five of CMA’s six sponsored bills have passed in the Assembly and now await policy committee hearings in the Senate. Two of those bills—AB 682, which would help make HIV testing a routine part of medical checkups, and AB 1226, which would streamline Medi-Cal physician enrollment—garnered near-unanimous support from the 80-member Assembly.
Other CMA-sponsored bills that have moved on to the Senate:
- AB 632, which would strengthen whistleblower protections for physicians and prohibit hospitals from retaliating or discriminating against a physician on its medical staff for speaking out about the quality of care provided in the facility.
- AB 1324, which would confirm that it is illegal for insurers to rescind or modify authorization after services are rendered in good faith.
- AB 1155, which would require mandatory penalties for HMOs that are found by the Department of Managed Health Care to have underpaid physicians, and would require those HMOs to automatically pay to physicians the full amount of underpayment plus interest.
The only CMA-sponsored bill that failed to advance was the farmworker health coverage bill (AB 770). This bill, which would improve access to health care for farmworkers in California, will be taken up again next year.
CMA-Opposed Bills
This year’s attempt to legalize physician-assisted suicide stalled on the Assembly floor and no vote was taken. CMA policy is that assisting in someone’s death is in direct conflict with a doctor’s ethical duties. The association has taken and reaffirmed its position against physician-assisted suicide five times since the 1980s.
CMA has also successfully averted a number of legislative attempts to expand the scope of practice of allied health professionals. Among the bills that were tabled was one that would allow psychologists to prescribe psychotropic drugs; one that would allow acupuncturists to use low-level lasers for medical purposes; and another that would eliminate many physician supervision requirements for nurse practitioners (NPs), allowing NPs to, among other things, admit and discharge hospital patients and prescribe controlled substances without physician approval. All of these bills stalled in committee and were tabled until next year.
Health Reform
Both the Assembly and Senate approved the Democratic health reform plans last week, sending measures by Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to the other chamber. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has yet to find an author for his health care reform proposal. CMA continues to participate in extensive discussions with the governor’s office and other stakeholders on the essentials of reform.
Click here for more information.
Contact: Susan Bassett, 916/444-5532 or sbassett@cmanet.org.
3. Blue Cross Posts Revised Prudent Buyer Fees
As reported in last week’s Alert, complaints from hundreds of CMA physicians forced Blue Cross to delay implementation of its new fee schedule, which was originally scheduled to take effect June 1. The new implementation date is August 6.
The new fee schedule is now available at the Blue Cross provider website. Blue Cross was forced into this delay after it failed to provide physicians with timely access to the new rates, leaving many physicians unable to assess the financial impact that the fee schedule changes would have on their practices.
Click here for more information, including a direct link to the new fee schedule.
Contact: Jodi Black, 888/401-5911 or jblack@cmanet.org.
4. CMA Foundation Seeking Nominations for
Annual Leadership Achievement Awards
The CMA Foundation is accepting nominations for its annual leadership awards, the Robert D. Sparks, M.D., Leadership Award, the Ethnic Physician of the Year Award, and the Adarsh S. Mahal, M.D., Access to Health Care and Disparities Award. The winners will be honored at the CMA Foundation’s Annual Leadership Dinner, held October 28 in Anaheim, during the CMA House of Delegates. Recipients will receive a plaque and a $1,000 honorarium. The ethnic physician award also includes a $1,000 grant for the ethnic physician organization of the honoree’s choice.
Click here for more information.
Contact: Carol Lee, 916/551-2562 or clee@cmanet.org.
5. Member Benefit of the Week:
ON-CALL Medical-Legal Information Library
CMA ON-CALL is an online library that contains over 4,500 pages of medical-legal, regulatory, and reimbursement information. The searchable library contains all the information available in the California Physician’s Legal Handbook, an annual publication of CMA’s Center for Legal Affairs.
ON-CALL documents are available free to members at CMA’s members-only website. Nonmembers can purchase ON-CALL documents for $2 per page in CMA’s online bookstore.
If you haven’t taken advantage of this extraordinary resource, spend a few minutes browsing the ON-CALL index, and see what you’ve been missing.
Click here for more information on your membership benefits.
Contact: CMA’s Member Service Center, 888/233-2937 or lgodward@cmanet.org.
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No. 2099
