Countdown: 14 Days Until Federal Deadline for CMV Certification
Beginning May 21, 2014, you must be certified and listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners to perform physical examinations for CMV (Commercial Motor Vehicle) drivers. What If I Miss the Deadline? Training and testing can occur after the deadline. However, if you are not certified…
Medicare Physician Cuts Patched Again
This past Monday night, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 4302, the "Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014," thereby postponing the 24 percent Medicare physician payment cut until April 1, 2015. Instead, the current 0.5% update will remain in place to the end of the year, followed by…
Arkansas Legislature reauthorizes Medicaid expansion
National coverage from AMA Morning Rounds, 3/5/14. Multiple national and regional newspapers, wire services, and beltway publications cover news of the passage of a much-watched piece of legislation from Arkansas regarding expanded Medicaid eligibility. The New York Times (3/5, Goodnough, Subscription Publication) reports that the Arkansas House of…
Help Repeal the SGR!
Contact the Arkansas Congressional Delegation through THIS LINK or call the AMA's Physicians Grassroots Network hotline at (800) 833-6354. Ask them to support legislation that will repeal the SGR. The bills are H.R. 4015 and S. 2000. Share with them that: The SGR formula is widely acknowledged to…
How you can tip the balance for SGR repeal
From AMA Morning Rounds, Feb 10, 2014 A long-awaited and hard-fought bill to permanently repeal Medicare’s fatally flawed SGR formula finally is before Congress, following a milestone announcement Thursday. It’s critical to maintain the momentum in Congress: Your voice could tip the balance to pass repeal this year.…
Lawmakers release plan to repeal SGR
From AMA Morning Rounds, 2/7/2014 News that lawmakers have released a plan that would permanently fix the sustainable growth rate received coverage in a few major US newspapers, and was widely covered in the beltway media. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle praised the deal, as did…
Medicare SGR Cuts of 24% Averted – SGR Repeal Gaining Momentum
As 2013 came to a close, the U.S. House and Senate approved a $1.012 trillion dollar 2014 budget. Included in the budget deal was a three-month .05% Medicare physician payment increase in lieu of the 24% cut created by the SGR (sustainable growth rate) formula. The three-month deal is…
SGR Fee Schedule Rule Announced
SGR cuts of 24% for 2014 were announced by CMS on Wednesday, November 27th. Because of the lateness of this announcement, physicians will have until the end of January 2014 to change their Medicare participation status, if so desired. Congress must repeal the SGR, or put another temporary…
AMS Leadership Meets With Arkansas Congressional Delegation
Tuesday, November 19, AMS leadership met with the entire Arkansas Congressional delegation in Washington, DC, to discuss issues of concern. Legislative Committee Chairman, Scott Ferguson, MD; past president Michael Moody, MD; immediate past president, Gene Shelby, MD; past president, Joe Stallings, MD and President-elect, Alan Wilson, MD; along…
Welcome Congress back to the capital: Tell them to fix Medicare now.
Congress is back in session following the summer recess. Tell your lawmakers that now is the time to transform Medicare into an effective, 21st-century model of care. The AMA’s Fix Medicare Now website, launched earlier this month, lets physicians, medical students and patients lend their voices to the…
Committee passes SGR repeal bill on Medicare’s 48th anniversary
Draft legislation to repeal Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula is moving forward in the U.S. House of Representatives following unanimous approval in committee markup Wednesday. The AMA is urging continued work to ensure the legislation will build a more sustainable health care system. The House Energy and…