Dr. Bangasser reported on the ongoing discussions regarding the National MICRA bill. Lots of lobbying is being done. Other states feel we are holding up the process, but we are keeping our position on the $250,000 cap. We do not want to compromise the cap. Ron will be meeting with the AMA and legislators in late May to continue to work on our behalf.

Dr. Bangasser reported the state budget will be late but he feels Medi-Cal will be preserved. He will be talking to legislators about Medi-Cal when he attends the April 30th Legislative Leadership Day. Another hot issue is workers' compensation. Ron has attended several meetings with John Garamendi, the specialty societies, and other groups to see where this issue is headed. He said there are at least 30 bills in the legislature regarding workers' compensation. One bill of concern is the proposed Alarcon bill that would move $750 million from specialty physicians to primary care physicians. In other proposed bills outpatient surgery services are in line to get a large hit.

Ron reported the "Nickel A Drink" bill is moving forward. It assesses a "nickel-a-drink" fee on all beer and distilled spirits distributed in California. All money collected will be used exclusively to reimburse emergency departments, trauma centers and emergency and trauma physicians for costs associated with treating alcohol related injuries. This may include, but is not limited to, automobile accidents, domestic violence incidents, and gunshot wounds. This bill would make it easier to obtain compensation for emergency rooms. California would receive about $400-500 million, which would be a temporary solution, to take care of the underfunding in the emergency room system.

Concerning SB 1071, Dr. Bangasser discussed letters sent to Senators Brulte and Vincent from Doctors Peggy Fritzsche and Tom Kilcheski in opposition of SB1071 (which was introduced by Senator Vincent). This bill would exempt entities from the corporate practice of medicine prohibition that provide scheduling services, as defined for diagnostic tests, so long as the person/entity does not make or interfere with any medical judgment or interpretation of the test results. The bill would also allow the entity to choose the provider, facilitate review, bill and collect for services, etc. CMA opposes the bill and would like to see the bill killed.

Dr. Bangasser praised our Alliance for being number one in the state for membership. He also reported that San Bernardino has one of the largest groups participating in CMA's Legislative Leadership Day, April 30th in Sacramento.

San Bernardino County Public Health Officer Dr. Thomas Prendergast reported smallpox vaccinations are still being coordinated with hospitals in the county. Over 134 public health and hospital employees have been vaccinated. He reported that no cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) have been reported in San Bernardino County.

Dr. Prendergast also reported on Bioterrorism response preparedness. They have hired a physician that will allow the Public Health Department to do increased surveillance. He stated that Dr. Frykman was appointed to the California Health Alert Network that will allow them the capacity to connect about 1,300 people through e-mail to send out rapid notifications from the state or local health departments on medical events. The Department of Public Health will hold a live, satellite broadcast, hosted by USAMRICD, on "Chemical Threat Agents - The Community Provider's Perspective" on May 21 in the Clinical Services Building in San Bernardino.

IEHP Medical Director, Dr. Brad Gilbert, reported that total membership is 255,382. Medi-Cal enrollment is 224,618 with 27,863 enrolled in the Healthy Families program. Healthy Kids enrollment is 2,901. The auto assignment percentage in February was approximately 31 percent. He identified how the process works to sign people up, enrollment numbers, lives that are covered under direct contracting (primary & specialists), and the effect it has on the market place relative to IPAs.

Dr. Gilbert reported he has contacted IMQ as requested by SBCMS regarding IMQ's certification. IMQ has sent IEHP information regarding their criteria for certification. Dr. Gilbert has started to go through their certification procedure to note any differences. He will report back to the board his findings.

Dr. Ruchir Sehra reviewed the third quarter financial report for period ending March 31, 2003. Total revenue for the nine-month period ending is $511,958.47 and total expenses are $434,204.74. He anticipates SBCMS will end the fiscal year $40,000 in the black.

The Board approved the Executive Committee's recommendations of the recipients of the 2003 Outstanding Physicians & Citizen's Awards. The awards will be presented to the winners at the June 26th Installation of Officers meeting at Shandin Hills Golf Club in San Bernardino.

The board supported the re-election of Jane Corwin and to Drs. Wafa Michael and Paul Godfrey as members of the Board of Directors of the Blood Bank of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. They also support the nomination of Bernie Goler, M.D. to the Department of Health Services Radiologic Technology Advisory Committee (RTCC).

Dr. Randolph reported that a work group would be formed to study and propose a strategy to work with local schools and the public health department in strengthening standards established by the "Public Nutrition, Health & "Achievement Act of 2001 (SB 19). The work group (consisting of Drs. Flynn, Valenzuela, Frykman, Bangasser, and Gilbert, Nabil Razzouk, Ph.D. and Shelley Caltharp) will work with the SBCMS' Alliance and IWIN's Healthy Lifestyle Program to implement this program.