Government & Medicine

(12/16/2008)  --  The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC, is considering adopting a recommendation that would call for a 1.1 percent increase in physician payment rates in 2010. MedPAC, which advises Congress on physician payment rates and other issues, said the possible recommendation is based on an expected 2.4 percent increase in the inflation rate and a 1.3 percent productivity growth offset. More

(12/02/2008)  --  The AAFP has laid out an aggressive legislative agenda for next year, identifying several key issues that are vital to moving the concepts of primary care and the patient-centered medical home, or PCMH, forward on the national level. That was one of the messages delivered by Kevin Burke, director of the AAFP's Division of Government Relations, during the AAFP's state legislative conference here last month. More

(12/03/2008)  --  CMS is looking for input from physicians as it prepares to transition from using a payment system that focuses on quantity and consumption of resources to one that rewards quality and efficiency of care. As part of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 enacted last July, HHS must submit its recommendations on how to transition to a value-based purchasing program to Congress by May 1, 2010. More

(12/03/2008)  --  The AAFP has moved quickly to acknowledge the importance of a health care reform proposal put forth by the chair of the Senate Finance Committee that emphasizes prevention and primary care services as a way to overhaul the nation's health care system. More

(11/21/2008)  --  The chronic shortage of primary care physicians threatens to slow and considerably complicate health care reform efforts on the state level, forcing states to redouble their recruitment and retention efforts. That was one of the major themes to emerge from the AAFP's state legislative conference, Nov. 14-15 in St. Louis. Several speakers at the conference described various ways states are bolstering their primary care physician workforces. More

(11/18/2008)  --  The chair of the Senate Finance Committee has unveiled a call to action for health care reform that relies heavily on primary care and preventive services to improve quality, enhance access and reduce the overall cost of health care in the United States. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., unveiled the plan during a Capitol Hill press briefing on Nov. 12. More

(11/12/2008)  --  Congress should require drug and device manufacturers to reveal their financial ties with physicians and other health care providers as a way of discouraging inappropriate financial arrangements between the entities, according to a series of recommendations recently adopted by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC. More