About this newsletter
The ACP Advocate is an e-newsletter, edited by the College's Washington, DC governmental affairs division, created to provide you, our members, with succinct news about public policy issues affecting internal medicine and patient care. To learn more about ACP's Advocacy and to access the ACP Advocate archives, go to www.acponline.org/advocacy. |
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Welcome to The ACP Advocate
A lot has happened in Washington since our last issue. As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, last week the super committee announced that it failed to come to an agreement on a plan for federal budget cuts. In our first article this week we look at what the failure of this process might mean for health care and what the consequences will be of an across-the-board cut.
Our second article also touches on the super committee failure and what it means for the Medicare SGR cut that is looming at the end of the year. Check out the article for information on a new legislative framework from Rep. Schwartz of Pennsylvania. We strongly support her ideas and are hopeful that something will be done this year.
Finally, our last story is something else you have probably heard about in the news. The Supreme Court is scheduled to take up the health care reform law in the spring. Our article today looks at the possibility of the Court ruling against the individual mandate while leaving the rest of the law intact.
For more coverage of what's happening in Washington, take a look at my award-winning blog, The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty. You can also follow me on Twitter @BobDohertyACP.
And, as always, please send your feedback and suggestions on this newsletter to: TheACPAdvocate@acponline.org.
Yours truly,
Bob Doherty
Senior Vice President
Governmental Affairs and Public Policy
American College of Physicians |
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In focus
Date Change for Leadership Day
The dates for the 2012 ACP Services Leadership Day have been changed to June 6 & 7, 2012. Due to a recently-learned conflict with the congressional calendar for the previously scheduled May dates, the event has been moved to after Memorial Day. The location and other details remain the same. Please note the change on your calendar. |
2012 ACP Health Policy Interns Selected
Athanasios Manole, a second year medical student at the University of New Mexico and Tiffany Groover, a second-year primary care/internal medicine resident at Boston Medical Center have been selected as the 2012 ACP Health Policy Interns. They will work in ACP’s Washington office for four weeks in May learning about the College’s advocacy work and preparing a briefing for student and associate members at the 2012 Leadership Day. |
Version 5010 Deadline Looms
The Jan. 1 deadline to comply with Version 5010 electronic administrative transactions is only 115 days away. On Jan. 1, all health insurers, not just Medicare and Medicaid, will only accept electronic transactions that use the Version 5010 standards. Practices that do not successfully transition to Version 5010 will find that their claims cannot be processed – and therefore, cannot be paid. Practices need to work with the vendors, clearinghouses, and payers of their practice management systems and electronic health record to begin testing for Version 5010 compliance. Visit the CMS website at the link above for a checklist of how to get ready. |
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