Surviving the first month of Covered California On January 1, 2014, California's health benefit exchange, Covered California, began providing health coverage to more 400,000 patients statewide. With that figure expected to grow by the end of the 2014 open enrollment period, it is critical that physicians and their staff know what to expect. To that end, the California Medical Association (CMA) offers these tips to survive the first month of Covered California. This document is available to members only. Please join CMA or Login to access the document. January 9, 2014 Managed Care Health Insurance Exchange, Covered California, Health Benefit Exchange, Health Care Reform 0 0 Comment Read More »
SBCMS sponsors Group Long-Term Disability program You work to protect your patients… We work to protect you. As a physician, you probably know better than anyone else how quickly a disability can strike and not only delay your dreams, but also leave you unable to provide for your family. Whether it is a heart attack, stroke, car accident or fall off a ladder, any of these things can affect your ability to perform your medical specialty. That’s why the San Bernardino County Medical Society sponsors a Group Long-Term Disability program underwritten by New York Life Insurance Company: ... January 6, 2014 General Insurance, Long-Term Disability Insurance, Benefits 0 0 Comment Read More »
Act now to protect yourself under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act By taking four easy steps now, you can make sure you're prepared when it's time to review your 2013 financial data before it's published online later this year. Under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, drug and medical device manufacturers started tracking their financial interactions with licensed physicians – including consulting fees, travel reimbursements, research grants and other gifts – beginning Aug. 1, 2013. Any payments, ownership interests and other “transfers of value” will be reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for publication in an online database ... January 6, 2014 General Physician Payment Sunshine Act, Legal Issues 0 0 Comment Read More »
Local Physicians Receive Annual Unforgettable Pediatric Doctor Award Each day, pediatric physicians - pediatricians, ER specialists, surgeons, and neonatologists - make a huge difference in the lives of children and their Inland Southern California families. On December 31st, The Unforgettables Foundation honored local caregivers with the annual Unforgettable Pediatric Doctor Award during the 14th Annual Lights for Little Lives Memorial Walk and Candle Lighting Ceremony in Loma Linda. This year's winners were nominated by their respective colleagues for this award. Loma Linda University Children's Hospital: John W. Mace, M.D. is board certified in Pediatric Endocrinology ... January 3, 2014 General Awards, Unforgettable Pediatric Doctor Award 0 0 Comment Read More »
Duals demonstration project delayed in three counties The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has delayed passive enrollment for three of the eight counties affected by the state's "pilot project" to redesign care for Medicare/Medi-Cal dual eligibles. The project in these three counties—Alameda, Santa Clara and Los Angeles—will begin instead with a voluntary period, during which patients can choose early enrollment with a Medi-Cal managed care plan, or wait until the automatic passive enrollment period, which will begin no earlier than July 1, 2014. The project—known as Cal MediConnect—was authorized by the state in July 2012 ... December 16, 2013 Managed Care Dual Eligible, Insurance/Reimbursement, Medicare, Medi-Cal 0 0 Comment Read More »
House passes budget with three month SGR patch The U.S. House of Representatives today passed a bipartisan two-year budget deal that includes a three-month patch that will stop the 24 percent Medicare physician payment cut that would otherwise take effect January 1, 2014—and replace it with a 0.5 percent payment raise—which will give lawmakers a little more time to finalize the long-term Medicare payment reforms currently making their way through Congress. The budget now goes to the U.S. Senate, which is expected to approve the measure next week. December 13, 2013 Medicare Advocacy, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate, Medicare 0 0 Comment Read More »
Updates to Covered California, the state's health benefit exchange CMA has updated our exchange toolkit, “CMA’s Got You Covered: A physician’s guide to Covered California, the state’s health benefit exchange.” There are significant updates since we last made updates in September that reflect key developments within the exchange including: • Updates on the grace period • Which plans have exited the exchange • How plans are building their networks • Information on how physicians can check their participation status on the Covered California website • Phone numbers of all of the plans in the event physicians have questions about their participation status December 10, 2013 General Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Exchange, Covered California, Insurance/Reimbursement 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medical board says it is not responsible for 'daily deal marketing cease and desist' letters sent to physicians The Medical Board of California issued a statement last week that it did not author a letter apparently coming from its Discipline Coordination Unit warning physicians to immediately "cease and desist " from conducting any daily deal marketing arrangements with sites such as Groupon, Living Social and Amazon. A number of California physicians have called the medical board stating that they have received these letters dated November 6, 2013, on the medical board’s masthead. These letters are fraudulent and were not generated by the medical board. When the medical board ... December 4, 2013 General Marketing/Advertising, Legal Issues, MBC, Medical Board of California, Professional Development and Licensure 0 0 Comment Read More »
Trial lawyers begin collecting signatures for anti-MICRA ballot initiative Driven by greed and the promise of inflated attorney fees, California trial lawyers have renewed their fight to lift the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) cap on speculative, non-economic damages, presenting ballot language that seeks to more than quadruple the maximum award for non-economic damages to roughly $1.1 million. If successful, these efforts would be devastating to California’s health care system. More meritless lawsuits will lead to reduced patient access to our health care professionals – and fewer options for affordable, quality health care – especially in rural and ... December 3, 2013 General Advocacy, MICRA, Professional Liability, Medical Malpractice 0 0 Comment Read More »
2014 Medicare fee schedule confirms 24 percent cut Demonstrating yet again how broken the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula is, physicians will face a 24 percent Medicare payment cut next year if Congress does not seize the opportunity to put a stop to the formula's annual threat of drastic payment cuts. This figure was confirmed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last week, when the agency released its final physician fee schedule for 2014. The California Medical Association (CMA) is currently reviewing the final rule, which was released much later than usual because of ... December 3, 2013 Medicare Medicare, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate, Advocacy, Insurance/Reimbursement 0 0 Comment Read More »
