October 16, 2009
Permanent Repeal of SGR: Your Action Needed Now
Call your Senators today and tell them that in order to preserve patient access to quality surgical care, Medicare physician payment reform MUST be achieved. Urge them to vote "yes" on all procedural votes and ultimately on final passage of S. 1776, the "Medicare Physicians Fairness Act." The legislation would eliminate the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) by wiping out the SGR deficit, create a new baseline and set future payment updates at zero. The "Medicare Physician Fairness Act" (S. 1776) is NOT the "America's Healthy Future Act" that was passed out of the Senate Finance Committee bill earlier this week. S. 1776 is the first step towards reforming the Medicare payment system. Future updates are likely to be determined as a part of comprehensive health care reform legislation.
SUMMARY
Passage of S. 1776 is the critical first step to reforming the health care delivery system and implementing meaningful health care reform. As you are well aware, on January 1, 2010, surgeons, and all physicians, face a 22% cut in Medicare reimbursement.
To reform Medicare's payment system and find more innovative models of Medicare physician payment, Congress must first immediately and permanently eliminate the SGR. Your help is absolutely essential in this effort! Contact your Senators today and tell them to vote "yes" on all procedural votes and ultimately on final passage of S. 1776, the "Medicare Physicians Fairness Act." Click here for more information.
INSTRUCTIONS
Please call toll-free 1-877-925-8742
You will be asked to enter your zip code and will then be connected to your Senators' offices.
Once you are connected, tell them you are a constituent and leave your name, phone number, and address, along with the suggested message below.
PHONE MESSAGE
As a surgeon and as your constituent, I urge to vote "yes" on all procedural votes and ultimately on final passage of S. 1776, the "Medicare Physicians Fairness Act."
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? CONTACT ACS ADVOCACY STAFF:
Washington Office Phone: 202-337-2701 or Email: ahp@facs.org
Sincerely,
Brent Eastman, M.D, FACS, Chair of the ACS Board of Regents
LaMar McGinnis, M.D., FACS, President of the American College of Surgeons
Andrew Warshaw, M.D., FACS, Chair of the ACS Health Policy and Advocacy Group
Christian Shalgian, ACS Director, Division of Advocacy and Health Policy
Surgical Groups Form Operation Patient Access: Quality Surgical Care for All to Call Attention to Escalating Workforce Shortage
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 24, 2009) Surgical groups, led by the American College of Surgeons, along with other key health care stakeholders, today announced the formation of Operation Patient Access: Quality Surgical Care for All, an effort to bring into focus the urgent issues facing access to quality surgical care in the United States. With nearly 400 surgeons from around the country meeting with their elected representatives today, they will call attention to urgently needed policy changes to address gaps in the availability of quality surgical patient care.
As policymakers examine how to reform this country's health care system in the midst of the current economic crisis, there is a growing concern that the focus on cost controls will dominate discussions and decisions to the extent that access to quality surgical care will be further compromised, said L.D. Britt, MD, FACS, chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons. Operation Patient Access is designed to help policymakers understand that patient access to quality surgical care is at risk and that we want to work with them to craft workable solutions that address access problems while preserving and improving high-quality surgical care.
The shortage of general surgeons in the U.S. has been well-documented and continues to be a major concern because these surgeons are mainstays in rural parts of the country and also staff trauma centers in urban areas. Operation Patient Access released new information today that shows that the shortage and the resulting gaps in access to care are actually getting worse:
· The American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute issued trend information in a new unpublished report that highlights research indicating the shortage of general surgeons has raised concerns about the access to care for underserved and rapidly aging populations in pockets of both rural and urban areas of the United States.
· New research published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reveals shortages of qualified surgeons in many regions of Maryland, especially in rural areas. The study states that excessive administrative demands and an aging physician and general population could push these shortages to critical levels over the next 10 years.
One of the goals of Operation Patient Access is to spur dialogue and build consensus among stakeholders on how best to tackle and solve this problem because this is about making sure patients get the right care at the right time in the right place, said Thomas Russell, MD, FACS, executive director, American College of Surgeons.
Among the solutions being discussed by Operation Patient Access participants are: increase the number of residency programs; expand the National Health Services Corps; establish student loan forgiveness programs; provide more funding for graduate surgical education; reduce liability cost; and implement alternative payment methods for health care.
A key reason that patient groups are coming out in support of Operation Patient Access is to make sure that there are enough well-trained surgeons available to provide quality surgical care to those who need it when they need it.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure supports the American College of Surgeons and its Operation Patient Access program, said Diana Rowden, VP, Health Sciences, Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Highly trained, experienced surgeons provide the treatment that is the foundation of breast cancer care, resulting in overall quality outcomes for women with breast cancer. These experts can and do provide women with the range of surgical options that are part of a comprehensive individualized treatment plan. A rigorous training program and extensive continuing education ensures that surgeons are qualified and current in their approaches to breast surgery.
Other areas of surgery in which shortages are developing include orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery, urology, obstetrics-gynecology and cardiothoracic surgery.
We're facing a situation where 50 percent of the practicing cardiothoracic surgeons in this country are planning on retiring within 10 years, with more than 70 percent following within 13 years, said John Mayer, MD, FACS, past president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and current chair of the Council on Health Policy and Relationships for the Society. This issue is compounded by the fact that we aren't getting enough trainees into our cardiothoracic surgery fellowship programs. Between 2002 and 2007, thoracic surgery has seen a drop of 24 percent in the number of first year trainees. This is a forbidding harbinger of things to come.
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About Operation Patient Access
Operation Patient Access is a collaboration of America's surgical community, including patients, surgeons, hospitals, public health and other providers with the ultimate goal of bringing into focus the urgent issues facing access to quality surgical care. Operation Patient Access partners include: The American College of Surgeons, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Urological Association, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, New England Rural Health Round Table, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Society for Vascular Surgery, Texas Rural Health Association, Utah Department of Health and the Wyoming Health Resources Network. (operationpatientaccess.facs.org).
Special Alert: ACS Statement on Health Care Reform
Statement on Health Care Reform (100kb)
Dear Colleague,
As we all know, the demand for reform of our nation's health care system is intensifying. Indeed, in light of this country's economic worries---the government-funded bailout of lending institutions, a roller coaster stock market, and increased unemployment---the government is likely to intensify its efforts to uncover sources of wasteful spending and to seek entirely new methods of providing health insurance coverage for all U.S. citizens. In fact, some experts believe that the current dialogue related to universal health insurance and the reform of our health care system that is part of the national Presidential election will become the focus of intense national debate shortly after the Inauguration early next year.
Never has the time been so ripe for physicians and other stakeholders to become actively involved in determining how to transform our health care system. As one of the nation's largest medical associations, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) recognizes its acute obligation to help policymakers understand what changes should occur in order to improve care for surgical patients in this country.
We are pleased to report that the ACS Health Policy Steering Committee answered this charge by drafting a Statement on Health Care Reform, which outlines actions the College urges the Congress and the Administration to take concerning three critically important and interrelated goals for health care: Quality and Safety, Access/Workforce, and Reduction of Health Care Costs. The document sets forth for each of these priorities specific actions that Congress and the incoming President and Administration should support, as well as related activities the ACS is committed to undertaking.
The Board of Regents reviewed the document during their meeting just prior to the 2008 Clinical Congress, and it was also shared with and reviewed by members of the ACS Board of Governors who were in attendance at a first-ever joint meeting of the Regents and Governors.
The College anticipates that this statement will be a useful starting point for further negotiation and for the elucidation of ideas from the broad range of stakeholders in the upcoming debate about health care reform. The statement will be widely disseminated to the media and the public at the appropriate time following the national election.
You can read the statement in the file that is attached to this communication, or you can find it online at http://www.facs.org.
The College's leadership views the Statement on Health Care Reform as simply one step in our efforts to effectively collaborate with patients, payors, other providers, and the business sector to create a better health care system---one grounded in the principles of quality, patient safety, efficiency, and equitable access to care.
With all best regards,
L. D. Britt, MD, FACS
Chair, Board of Regents
Michael J. Zinner, MD, FACS
Chair, Board of Governors
Thomas R. Russell, MD, FACS
Executive Director