Posted by admin on August 4, 2010 under Medicare | 
Politico Pulse Logo - ASIPP Blog
DOC-FIX WATCH – Frustrated with a six-month patch, medical associations continue to push Congress on Medicare payments.
First up: The American Society of Interventional Pain physicians hits the Hill tomorrow pushing for (what else?) a permanent SGR fix – like the AMA, ASIPP is insistent that nothing less will do, even if it’s not political reality.
Their past president and spokesperson, Dr. David Kloth, tells Pulse: “What the House and Senate passed will get us six months but the bottom line is we need a long-term solution or we are going to lose a lot of doctors.”
Posted by admin on June 25, 2010 under Medicare |
ASIPP Wall Street Journal
By Shirley S. Wang
It’s no joke for doctors that today marks the day that Medicare’s 21% reimbursement pay cuts were to go into effect.
ASIPP Capital Building
Congress left for its Easter recess without voting to delay the scheduled April 1 start of lower payments to docs. The agency that oversees Medicare has effectively delayed the cuts by deciding not to pay claims for the first 10 business days in April. When Congress returns, it’s still expected to adopt another law to delay the cuts for longer, as it has done annually for years now.
So what does the delay in paying claims mean for doctors? In the short-term, their cash flow shouldn’t be disrupted much, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Typically claims are paid no sooner than 14 calendar days anyway, so doctors shouldn’t see a dip in their income unless Congress fails to act with a new delay in the next two weeks, the agency says.
But the long-standing threat of Medicare cuts are weighing on doctors, say medical societies.
“It’s tough,” Andrew LaMar, spokesman for the California Medical Association, told the Health Blog. “Imagine if every month you didn’t know what your paycheck is going to be.”
The American Medical Association and others urged repeatedly for a permanent repeal of Medicare cuts throughout the health-care bill legislative process, but it wasn’t included as part of the final bill.
David Kloth, past president of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, told the Health Blog that private insurers base their rates on those set by Medicare, so a cut in Medicare payments would likely result in reimbursement cuts across the board. And if their revenue drops significantly, docs may reduce the number of Medicare patients they see or have to lay off employees, he says.
“If they’re not careful, they’re going to drive doctors out of Medicare and Medicaid,” says Kloth.
Photo: Associated Press
Posted by admin on June 12, 2010 under Medicare |
FROM:
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INTERVENTIONAL PAIN PHYSICIANS
81 LAKEVIEW DRIVE
PADUCAH, KY 42001
www.asipp.org
Rubenstein Public Relations
Contact: Adam Mazur Tel: 212.873.8073
Email: amazur@rubensteinpr.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATIONAL SOCIETY OF PHYSICIANS SAYS MEDICARE CUTS WILL FORCE DOCS TO CLOSE PRACTICES
Huge Physician Payment Cuts Expected April 1
PADUCAH, KY, MARCH 31, 2010 – A leading national society of doctors is saying that many physicians will cease to actively practice or at the very least, drop Medicare over large pending payment cuts.
ASIPP, the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, is speaking out against Congress, currently in the midst of its two-week spring recess, for not taking action to stop the fast-approaching cut. The Senate intends to hold a cloture vote after the recess which, if supported by 60 senators, will allow for a vote on the legislation that could occur as early as April 12.
The U.S. Senate held a floor debate on H.R. 4851 that would extend a number of expiring programs through April. That bill, which had already passed the House, includes a 30-day extension of the current Medicare physician payment rates, postponing, once again, the 21.3 percent cut scheduled to take effect in 2010.
Since Congress failed to act yet again, the 21.3 percent Medicare physician payment cut will take effect on April 1. The Center for Medicare Services (CMS) will make an announcement about their plans for handling claims starting April 1 but based on its past course of action, CMS will likely hold payments, rather than reprocessing millions of potential claims if Congress takes action when they return from recess.
“Congress seems to be intent on advancing a potentially harmful situation that is wreaking havoc with physicians’ practices,” said Dr. David Kloth, board member, past president and national spokesman for ASIPP. “Should Congress fail to act responsibly, almost every physician I have spoken with is either dropping Medicare or at least considering that option or worse, may just stop practicing completely.”
Among the startling results yielded by one recent study of over 250 actively practicing doctors who were questioned about the proposed 21.3 % Medicare cuts:
• 41 % said they will stop taking new Medicare patients,
• 24 % will stop taking Medicare patients entirely,
• Well over 50 % will defer the purchase of information technology, in effect, spurning a widely publicized federal tax incentive,
• 42 % of the doctors surveyed said they will layoff staff.
ASIPP strongly believes that health care reform is mandatory for the country but strongly disagrees with many aspects of the new legislation.
“If these cuts are allowed to go through many doctors will simply shut down their practices,” adds Kloth. “So it won’t matter that 30 million more people will receive health insurance because we will have far less doctors available to treat them.”
For interviews with David Kloth, MD, national spokesman for the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) please call (212) 843-8073 or email amazur@rubensteinpr.com.
About The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians
ASIPP’s mission statement is to promote the development and practice of safe, high quality, cost-effective interventional pain management techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of pain and related disorders, and to ensure patient access to these interventions. Founded in 1998 by current CEO Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, ASIPP is a rapidly growing not-for-profit organization that supports the needs of physicians who practice Interventional Pain Management across the country.
Since its inception, the organization has had substantial impact on the practice of interventional pain medicine, resulting in an impressive list of major achievements. In 2005, ASIPP succeeded in passing The National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act (NASPER), which provides and improves patient access to quality care, and protects patients and physicians from the deleterious effects of controlled substance misuse, abuse and trafficking. ASIPP is headquartered in Paducah, KY and currently has over 4,000 members. For more information, visit www.asipp.org or call 270.554.9412. Ext. 215.
