Study: CA physicians account for $160+ billion in economic impact and almost 1 million jobs California’s 85,943 patient care physicians fulfill a vital role in the state’s economy by supporting 983,990 jobs and generating $162.6 billion in economic activity, according to a new report by the American Medical Association (AMA). The report notes that given the changing health care environment, it is paramount to quantify the economic impact physicians have on society. To provide lawmakers, regulators and policymakers with reliable information, the report measured the economic impact of California physicians according to four key economic barometers. Jobs: Each physician supported an average ... April 23, 2014 General Patient Care Activities 0 0 Comment Read More »
Pledge your commitment to protect MICRA With less than 200 days left until the 2014 general election, the California Medical Association (CMA) is working hard to educate every physician in California about the efforts underway to defeat the trial lawyer-backed anti-MICRA ballot measure. Ensuring that each and every California physician understands the importance of our state's landmark Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) remains one of CMA's top priorities. The ballot measure being pushed by trial lawyers would increase health care costs for everyone in California and decrease access to care – which is why such ... April 21, 2014 General Professional Liability, MICRA 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA's annual "lobby day" is April 22 The 40th annual California Medical Association (CMA) Legislative Leadership Conference is just around the corner! The conference will take place Tuesday, April 22, at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento, just three blocks from the State Capitol and across the street from CMA headquarters. It's not too late to rsvp! This is a unique event for California physicians and is free of charge to all CMA members. Plan to join more than 400 physicians, medical students and CMA Alliance members who will be coming to Sacramento to lobby their legislative ... April 16, 2014 General Legislative Leadership Day, Grassroots Advocacy 0 0 Comment Read More »
Soda warning label bill clears committee A California Medical Association-sponsored bill that would place safety warning labels on sodas and other sugary beverages sold in California has cleared California’s Senate Health Committee on a 5-2 vote. The first-in-the-nation legislation (SB 1000) was introduced by State Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and would ensure that all Californians are aware of the critical scientific information linking sugary drink consumption to exploding rates of diabetes and obesity. The bill would place a simple warning on the front of all beverage containers with added sweeteners that have 75 or more calories per ... April 16, 2014 General Pediatrics, Public Health, State Legislation, Obesity 0 0 Comment Read More »
Anthem mistakenly lists almost 1,000 physicians as participating in individual/exchange network Anthem Blue Cross recently notified 965 physicians that they were erroneously listed as participating in the payor’s individual/exchange network. The April 9 notice states that affected physicians were “inadvertently” listed for “a certain period of time” during open enrollment. After receiving a number of complaints from physicians who believed they were listed inaccurately as participating in the Anthem Blue Cross individual/exchange network provider directory, the California Medical Association (CMA) contacted Anthem to discuss the matter. At that time, Anthem acknowledged the error and said that affected patients had already been ... April 16, 2014 General Covered California, Health Insurance Exchange, Anthem Blue Cross 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medicare Advantage plans to see a modest increase in payments The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week that Medicare Advantage plans would see a 0.4 percent boost in payment rates for 2015. This small payment boost is a change from CMS's February proposal that would have reduced Medicare Advantage plans payment rates by 1.9 percent. This announcement comes on the heels of new data that predicts falling Medicare costs due to healthier baby boomers aging into the system. Healthier beneficiaries in Medicare have led to a downward drop in risk adjustment for the program. CMS has also ... April 16, 2014 Medicare Medicare, Medicare Advantage, GPCI 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA supports medical board efforts to address prescription opioid misuse In an effort to support the Medical Board of California’s current review and update of the board’s Guidelines for Prescribing Controlled Substances for Pain, the California Medical Association (CMA) Council on Scientific and Clinical Affairs recently completed an extensive review of existing opioid prescribing guidelines and has published a white paper that summarizes their findings, titled Prescribing Opioids: Care amid Controversy. The paper was produced by a panel of physician experts, who conducted a review of current literature, existing clinical guidelines and expert opinion in order to present an up-to-date, ... April 16, 2014 General Medical Board of California, Drug Prescribing 0 0 Comment Read More »
Labor unions announce opposition to MICRA lawsuit initiative This week, two major labor unions announced their strong opposition to the trial attorneys' anti-MICRA ballot initiative. The unions – AFSCME California PEOPLE, the statewide political and legislative arm of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, representing 179,000 members across California, and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), AFSCME Local 206, the largest union representing working doctors in the nation – announced their opposition in a press release. Both groups said it was clear that the initiative served the interests of lawyers, not ... April 16, 2014 General MICRA 0 0 Comment Read More »
What does the ICD-10 delay mean for physicians? The ICD-10 compliance date will be delayed by at least one year, based on a provision in a federal law signed Tuesday that pushes the date to no sooner than October 1, 2015. It is unclear at this time how this unexpected delay will impact the health care industry, which has been feverishly working to prepare for the transition to the new code sets, previously scheduled for October 1, 2014. The International Classification of Disease tenth revision (ICD-10) is a system of coding created in 1992 as the successor to ... April 16, 2014 General ICD-10, Insurance/Reimbursement, Practice Management 0 0 Comment Read More »
Anthem accidentally overpays some physicians Anthem Blue Cross recently notified almost 8,500 practices of a claims pricing error that caused some physicians to be paid for services provided to individual/exchange patients at Anthem's higher Prudent Buyer PPO rates. In the April 9 notice to physicians, Anthem states it had been applying “discounted rates inconsistently” on claims for dates of service January 1 through March 31, 2014. According to the payor, the error was corrected effective for dates of service on or after April 1, 2014. While not mentioned in the notice, Anthem has advised the California ... April 16, 2014 General Covered California, Health Insurance Exchange, Anthem Blue Cross 0 0 Comment Read More »
