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| Members Urged To Contact Lawmakers on Medicare Payment
House Panel Passes Tobacco Legislation |
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Maryland Senate Health Committee Hears Patient Referral Bill |
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Health IT Conference Held Last Week in San Diego |
| LEGISLATIVE |
ACC Urges Members To Contact Lawmakers on Medicare Payment Update
With only four more months remaining for Congress to act, ACC members are encouraged to contact their Representatives and ask them to sign on to a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) requesting that they act to stop the scheduled 10.6 percent Medicare payment cut slated for July 1. The letter also stresses the need for a positive payment update to allow time for Congress to enact long-term reforms and to create stability for patients and providers.
The ACC also encourages members to press lawmakers in the House and Senate to:
- Prevent cuts to payment updates for 18 months;
- Enact a positive update through 2009 that covers any increase in the cost of care; and
- Oppose cuts to medical imaging services and support policies that foster imaging appropriateness and quality.
To contact your House member directly, please call the ACC toll-free grassroots hotline at 1-800-210-7193. |
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House Panel Passes Tobacco Legislation
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on March 12 approved legislation (H.R. 1108) that would grant FDA authority over tobacco products. During the hearing, subcommittee members and Chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) included revisions to strengthen the original bill.
As passed by the committee, the bill would ban candy-flavored cigarettes; clarify that FDA has the authority to require reductions or increases in nicotine levels to ensure public health; require that tobacco companies disclose the contents of their products and any changes; require that tobacco companies disclose the results of research; and prohibit tobacco companies from making claims that some products have a reduced risk when not supported by science, or when the claim would encourage current tobacco product users from quitting or encourage nonsmokers to start. In addition, the bill would require larger, more effective health warnings on tobacco products and prohibit terms such as "low-tar," "light" and "mild." The Senate version of the bill (S. 625) was approved in August 2007 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. |
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Maryland Senate Health Committee Hears Patient Referral Bill
A Maryland Senate health committee on March 5 held a hearing on legislation (S.B. 708) that would allow cardiovascular specialists and other physician specialists to provide MR, CT and other radiation therapy services to patients in the office setting. Lawmakers heard testimony from Maryland Chapter President Roger Leonard, M.D., F.A.C.C., showcasing ACC's appropriateness criteria as a responsible, effective method of achieving quality patient care. Leonard also used the appropriateness criteria to address the over-utilization and profit concern arguments from Radiology. ACC members testifying at the hearing highlighted the patient safety risks and cost drivers caused by delays under the current law. In addition, oncologists, urologists and orthopaedic surgeons testified in support of the new law. Overall, state senators seemed supportive of the new bill. A House committee heard similar testimony on March 10. |
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Health IT Conference Held Last Week in San Diego
A Washington Post article this week provides an overview of the recent health IT conference in San Diego. At the conference, dozens of companies showcased online products intended to improve the U.S. health care system. Two major competitors in the health IT field are Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health, both of which allow individuals to go online to store personal health records, search for health information, find and schedule appointments with physicians, manage prescription drug regimes, and share health information with providers, among other features. For the complete article, click here. For more information on the ACC's health IT efforts, go to: www.acc.org/healthit..
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