March 3, 2010
Senate Delays Doc Pay Cut for 30 Days |
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The Senate overwhelmingly voted Tuesday night to delay for 30 days a 21.2% pay cut in Medicare reimbursement for physicians. The tally came after Sen. Jim Bunning, R-KY, agreed to a vote after blocking the measure since last week.
By agreeing to the physician pay cut delay, the Senate finally joined the House, which approved its 30-day delay legislation last week. By a 78-19 vote, the Senate approved the measure.
Healthleaders Media |
Obama Calls for 'Up or Down' Vote on Health: |
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WASHINGTONLooking to push the "long and wrenching debate" over health care into its final stages, President Barack Obama asked lawmakers to schedule a vote on overhaul legislation "in the next few weeks."
"No matter which approach you favor, I believe the United States Congress owes the American people a final vote on health-care reform," Mr. Obama said Wednesday in remarks at the White House. "We have debated this issue thoroughly, not just for a year, but for decades."
Wall Street Journal |
'Time to Make a Decision' on Health Care Reform |
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President Obama urged Congress to schedule a vote on health care reform in the "next few weeks," declaring Wednesday that it's "time to make a decision" on the package that is the product of a yearlong debate.
The president described the bipartisan summit held last week in Washington as the last leg of the health care reform debate. He said all arguments have been exhausted and that Congress owes the American people a final "up-or-down" vote.
Fox News |
Make Plans Today to Attend the Most Exciting ASIPP Annual Meeting Ever! |
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Mark your calendars now to attend ASIPP's 12th annual meeting will be held June 26-30,2010 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City.
We are offering three separate sessions focused on the Future of Interventional Pain Management: Evidence-Based Medicine, Comparative Effectiveness, and Practice Management. We are building on the information presented last year, while encompassing the changes in the legislation and political environment. We have several prominent speakers in the line-up, such as, Dr. Roger Chou; Dr. Gabor Racz; Medical Economist CEO, J.D. Kleinke; Founder and President of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review; Deputy Assistant Administrator, and many others.
In addition to the information-packed presentations on EBM and Comparative Effectiveness, we will also offer a practice management series of presentations, which will cover the essential coding and compliance lectures. This series is ideal for physicians and is invaluable for their staff. You could easily consider sending your staff to this meeting as an investment. They will walk away armed with the information they need to better understand the billing and coding issues they face on a daily basis.
Since last year s gala celebration was such a success, we decided to reprise this event with a celebration in the theme of An Evening in the Windy City. The evening will start with a cocktail mixer and move right into dinner, a brief business meeting, awards, and then entertainment from comedian and hypnotist, Flip Orley. After this, we will crank-up the fun and begin an evening of socializing, dancing and celebrating. On Monday, June 28, we will prepare for our Capitol Hill visits. Tuesday morning, June 29th, we will once again go as a group to Capitol Hill and make our voices heard. This is your opportunity to speak with your representatives and senators about the legislative issues that affect you and your practice.
For more information, click HERE for the brochure.
Mark your calendar today! |
Submit your Abstract for Consideration Today |
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The Online Abstract Submission (see step-by-step procedures below) for the 12th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) is now open. The meeting will be held June 26- June 30, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.
This year we are offering an early bird deadline of March 31, 2010. This early deadline will ensure that your abstract gets first preference and an opportunity to grab one of our limited spots for presentation.
A final abstract submission deadline will be April 30, 2010. Those selected will be notified and will receive free registration to the annual meeting.
Selected abstracts will be presented along with posters at the annual meeting on Saturday June 26 or Sunday June 27.
Submit your abstract today! |
Pain Management Bill Draws Debate in Oklahoma House |
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Discussion over a bill that would allow only physicians to administer precise pain management injections developed Thursday into a skirmish in the House over the needs of rural versus urban residents.
"This is the bill to kill rural Oklahoma, Rep. Gus Blackwell told fellow House members. "If you have boots, you better vote against it. Urban members mostly voted for Senate Bill 1133, a contentious measure that got bogged down last year, while mostly rural members voted against it. SB 1133 passed 55-33 and now goes to the Senate.
Oklahoman |
Democrat Sees Votes for Healthcare in House |
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) Democrats in the House of Representatives will have enough votes to pass President Barack Obama's healthcare reform legislation, a member of the Democratic leadership said on Sunday. "When we start counting, the votes will be there," Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Reuters |
Medicaid Directors Say Program Teetering on a "Fiscal Cliff" |
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 designated $87 billion for state Medicaid programs, enacting major increases in federal matching rates. Despite the boost from ARRA, state budgets have been groaning under the weight of the economic downturn, with 29 of them, according to a report from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, planning to make Medicaid cuts in 2010. Another 15 states are considering cuts but have not yet made a determination. It is not only that state revenues are down; program enrollment and spending have exceeded projected levels in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
ARRA restricts states from changing eligibility criteria for their Medicaid programs, but only until 2011, when the federal matching rate drops back to normal levels. Kaiser reports that across the country Medicaid directors described the upcoming abrupt end of these matching funds as a fiscal cliff that would have significant detrimental consequences on overall state budgets and on their programs. The effect on patients will also be severe, with possible widespread cutbacks that force millions of current beneficiaries off Medicaid. This, says Kaiser, would affectthe hospitals, doctors, and other providers who depend on Medicaid to pay for healthcare they provide to Medicaid enrollees. Many Medicaid directors have called for a temporary extension of the federal matching rates established under ARRA.
HCPro |
ASIPP Spinal Guidelines Posted with NGC |
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The 2009 Comprehensive evidence-based guidelines for interventional techniques in the management of chronic spinal pain ASIPP Guidelines have been posted to the National Guidelines Clearinghouse.
This is an updated version of ASIPPs guidelines.
ASIPP Spinal Guidelines |
Battle Brews Over Tactic to Win Passage of Health Bill |
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WASHINGTONThe White House said Monday the leading tactic to win passage of the health-care bill was nothing extraordinary, rehearsing a key argument in the final public-relations battle over the bill.
For their part, Republicans accuse the Democratic majority of trying to ram through legislation using a parliamentary trick that Republicans say was never designed for such a big bill.
Wall Street Journal |
Charles Rangel to Quit Key Tax Post |
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The embattled chairman of the tax-writing House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel, said on Tuesday he will step aside temporarily as chairman after being admonished by a House ethic panel.
"I have this morning sent a letter to Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi asking her to grant me a leave of absence until such time as the ethics committee completes its work," Rangel told a news conference at which he took no questions.
The Washington Post |
Aetna Makes Clinical, Coding Policy Changes |
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Aetna has announced its clinical payment, coding and policy changes published in the March 2010 newsletter, Aetna Office Links Updates. Click HERE to see newsletter.
Changes include: Vertebroplasty : In December, Aetna communicated that they will consider vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty and vesselplasty experimental and investigational. This change to the policy has been put on hold. Any changes will be communicated in a future newsletter.
Injection procedures billed with CT/MRI 6/1/2010 Effective June 1, 2010, when a physician bills 23350 and 73200, 73218, and 73221, 23350 will be denied. Modifier 59 will not override this edit. |
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American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians ®
81 Lakeview Drive, Paducah, KY 42001
Phone 270.554.9412, Fax 270.554.5394
E-mail asipp@asipp.org
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