Spine in the Media Update

Tags

FDA, injuries, news

Below are four articles recently reported about NASS physicians, spine care or the health care industry. If you would like to contribute an article to the NASS Blog or SpineLine, please email nheller@spine.org.

Stemming the Tide of Overtreatment in US Health Care (Reuters)

Dr. Stephen Hochschuler: 8 Changes to Ensure a Brighter Future for Spine Surgery (Becker’s Orthopedic, Spine & Pain Management)

NCCAM’s Advisory Council welcomes six new members (NIH)

Experts torn on Penguins captain Crosby’s injury (Pittsburgh Live)

Info for Patients: Appealing Insurance Denials

Tags

Insurance, KnowYourBack, Patient Info

A new feature article recently posted on the NASS patient education website, www.knowyourback.org, regarding appealing insurance denials. The article, entitled “How to Appeal an Insurance Denial” can be viewed here.

If you have an article you think would benefit the patient population,  please contact Kelly Dattilo at kdattilo@spine.org.

Advocacy Update: SGR Discussed Around DC

Tags

advocacy, SGR

Conferees Continue Negotiations Late into the Night; Reluctant GOP Reaches SGR Compromise

On Monday, House Republican leaders announced plans to introduce legislation that would extend a middle class payroll tax holiday but not include a solution to Medicare’s sustainable growth-rate formula for physicians; a measure that House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) deemed necessary due to lack of bipartisan effort from Democrats to discuss payment for the SGR.

With the March 1^st deadline for payment cuts still approaching, both parties decided the issue could not be put off any longer. Negotiations resumed, and a resolution was reached: The SGR will be paid for through a combination of bad debt payment cuts, DSH cuts and cuts to health reform’s Prevention and Public Health Fund.

GOP Conferees anticipate push-back from Tea Party members unwilling to vote for a $100 billion payroll tax cut extension without a pay-for, but Speaker Boehner has expressed confidence that he will be able to put together enough support to get the plan through.

Spine Media Update

Below are five articles recently reported about NASS physicians, spine care or the health care industry. If you would like to contribute an article to the NASS Blog or SpineLine, please email nheller@spine.org.

Seven Top Concerns for Spine Surgeons in 2012

Girl’s Life Saved With Drastic Spine Surgery

Vertebral Augmentation: Supported by Randomized Controlled Trials or Not?

HealthPartners is shifting its approach to back surgery

U.S. to Force Drug Firms to Report Money Paid to Doctors

Advocacy Update: CLASS Act, SGR Discussion & NASS Activities

Tags

advocacy, SGR

CLASS Act Repeal Passes House

Last week the House voted to repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program (CLASS Act).  Created by the 2010 health reform law, CLASS was designed as a voluntary long-term care insurance program to give people who pay into it protection against the costs of disability. Since its inception, the legislation has been widely criticized as financially unsustainable.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), said in a statement after the vote, “The president’s health care law is making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers and provide insurance for their employees, and Republicans are committed to repealing and defunding it – piece by piece if necessary.”

The legislation is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, however, despite assertions from the Obama administration and a letter to Congress from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius indicating that the program was “not viable.”

Twenty-eight Democrats joined the unanimous Republican effort in the 267-159 vote passing H.R. 1173.

All the Other Four-Letter Words Were Taken

Tags

Message from the Medical Editor, SpineLine

by Eeric Truumees, MD

While for some of you, winter continues its icy reign, here in Austin it’s been in the mid-seventies and we are reaping the reward of our three months of 100° heat in the summer.  But soon enough, even in the Northern latitudes, your patients will be suiting up for golf.

In this issue we present an article from our occasional series Spine in Sports.  Eugene Y. Roh, MD, Michael C. Geraci Jr, MD, PT, and Matthew Smuck, MD offer recommendations for “Preseason Training for Golfers with Low Back Pain.”  The authors review the incidence of back pain in both professional and amateur golfers.  They delineate important biomechanical factors in the golf swing and note significant changes in spinal loading from the classic to the modern swing styles.

Debt Ceiling Legislation & SGR

The Senate approved legislation to raise the federal debt limit on a 74-26 vote yesterday, a day after the House easily passed the measure. President Obama immediately signed the bill into law only hours before a midnight deadline. President Obama’s approval ended months of hard fought warfare between the two political parties which consumed the political agenda in Washington. The final deal, which ensures that the federal government will not default on its debt, grants the U.S. Treasury an additional $400 billion in immediate borrowing authority and makes additional funds available at future dates. The package will also cut at least $2.1 trillion in projected borrowing over the next decade and does not contain any tax hikes.

Although a debt ceiling proposal agreed to by the bipartisan Gang of Six in the Senate included a fully paid for 10-year freeze of Medicare physician payment rates, the final legislation does not patch pending cuts in any way. In fact, the agreement could cut payment rates even further. The legislation creates yet another  joint bipartisan committee who will be tasked with cutting as much as $1.5 trillion in additional federal spending  by Thanksgiving. If the panel cannot reach an agreement on the cuts needed to reach their target or congress does not vote to pass the cuts by December 23, the legislation could trigger cuts in certain areas– including a possible 2 percent cut in physician payment rates. This would occur only days before the SGR is scheduled to cut payment rates by 29 percent.

Capitol Hill Update

On-again off-again talks between the White House and House Speaker John Boehner to raise the federal debt limit broke off again when Boehner withdrew from the talks late last week. Boehner accused the President of being unwilling to address Medicare and Medicaid entitlement reforms and continued to object to revenue raising provisions preferred by the Administration. Boehner then began negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The three parties had reached a tentative agreement on a deal that would give the Treasury borrowing authority to pay the nation’s bills through the end of the year while trimming approximately $1.2 trillion from the federal budget.  In the meantime, Congress would create a bipartisan 12 member committee made up of House and Senate members who would be tasked with finding an additional $1.6 trillion in savings. Those savings would then be wrapped into a second package to raise the debt limit. However, Obama rejected the proposal late Sunday, maintaining his opposition to any short term increases. Boehner pledged to push forward and plans to schedule a vote in the House on the two-step proposal this week.

Alliance Advocacy Conference Invites Members of Congress to Discuss Priority Issues

Tuesday marked the second day of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine’s Advocacy Conference.  More than 100 specialists spent the day hearing from members of Congress from both sides of the aisle on their health care policy views.

We heard varying viewpoints on health care reform, medical liability reform and the FDA process. It is clear that Congress understands the need to replace Medicare’s physician payment system and wants to create a system that provides ample access to specialty care through adequate payment for the services physicians provide to Medicare patients.

NASS Leaders Join Alliance Colleagues in Washington to Advocate for Specialty Care

Tags

Alliance, DC

This week the Alliance of Specialty Medicine comes to Washington, DC for its annual Capitol Hill Advocacy Conference.  Here, over 100 specialists, representing 100,000 doctors nationwide, will convene to further the Alliance’s goal of making sure federal health care policy fosters patient access to the highest quality of specialty care. The conference will last three days and the Alliance first gathered last night in smaller numbers as designated representatives to its Physician Advisory Council. The Council met to discuss a long range strategic plan for the Alliance and discussed legislative and regulatory priorities.

The long term strategic plan will include ways to raise the Alliance’s profile and increase its membership. The Alliance is a policy driven organization, dedicated to making sure that specialty medicine is front and center in any healthcare debate occurring in Washington. Our current roster of 11 diverse specialties representing 100,000 doctors is an already impressive number, having real firepower to make an impression on Capitol Hill. However, there are still several specialties and sub specialties out there who should really take advantage of what the Alliance has to offer.

I know the Alliance has helped NASS in its Advocacy efforts in Washington D.C., by providing the collective voice and support of a large group of physicians focused on specialty care. Through the collaborative efforts of specialty care working together we can push an agenda that meets the needs of our patients and member physician

- Raj Rao, MD