DJP Update 11-4-2010 Noon – Breaking news AMA: Medical Association of Georgia letter regarding AMA leadership; AMA EVP/ CEO departing
DJP Comment: With the national election results and now this news below, it is unfortunate I can’t make the AMA Interim Meeting in San Diego this week because of the water heater flooding of 1st floor of my home during the night. This will be first Interim Meeting of AMA I missed since 1984!
Fortunate that contractor was scheduled to be at our home today. He was extremely helpful with the water mess, making sure no further leaks, and confirming electricity to that heater shut off. Awaiting plumber and slate person for the floor renovation. Carpet a mess! We will have no more carpet on first floor after Katrina and now this!
Thanks for the notes of concern. And Bob Seligson, EVP & CEO North Carolina Medical Society, is correct when he mentioned in his letter to me today,
“I bet your plumber does not work under the SGR method of reimbursement…but I don’t want to get you started!”
Yes, Bob is correct. Only doctors, who save lives daily, are price-fixed below the cost of delivering the service. Now that is something the Democrats & Republicans, & the President can fix if they really want to help patients and maintain access to care! Get rid of SGR. Allow private contracting and balance-billing. We still are a Land of Liberty. Let’s show it! That is something that should be emphasized at this AMA Interim Meeting. Medicine is burning!
Sorry, Bob, your note did get me started!
And now the update.
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MEDICAL ASSOCIATION of GEORGIA (MAG) LETTER OF “NO CONFIDENCE”
Nov 4, 2010 … POLITICO.com Logo – Click to return to home page …. GEORGIA HAS NO CONFIDENCE IN AMA— The Medical Association of Georgia has voted “no …
Medical Association of Georgia October 27, 2010 letter to AMA Board Chair posted at Politico:
Letter at this link: http://www.politico.com/static/PPM156_action_hod_deloach_to_hoven_confidence.html
EXCERPT:
(But read entire letter at link above.)
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ITEM TWO: “American Medical Association CEO Michael Maves to Leave in June”
Go to Web to have the links in story active.
WSJ’s blog on health and the business of health.
- NOVEMBER 4, 2010, 11:18 AM ET
American Medical Association CEO Michael Maves to Leave in June
By Katherine Hobson
The American Medical Association says its CEO, Michael Maves, will leave the organization at the end of June.
In a statement, the AMA said the decision was mutual. “As we enter into a new era that is redefining the way health care is delivered, both Dr. Maves and the Board of Trustees share the belief that new top leadership is required to address these challenges and to ensure the rights of patients and physicians are passionately and effectively protected,” said Ardis Hoven, chairman of the AMA’s board of trustees, in the statement.
The AMA backed health-care overhaul legislation but was frustrated that a permanent fix to the payment formula for reimbursing physicians wasn’t included. Instead, a series of piecemeal “doc fixes” has prevented increasingly drastic cuts to physician reimbursement. In June Congress approved a fix granting a 2.2% reimbursement increase, but that’s good for only six months.
And that means that we’re about to have the whole debate all over again, with a lame duck Congress. If no action is taken, cuts will go into effect Dec. 1. The AMA is holding a news conference on Monday on this topic.
Fixing the formula would be expensive. Earlier this year the CBO said that even freezing payment rates would cost almost $276 billion over the next decade. And the problem only gets bigger as the cuts are kicked further down the road.
Photo: Associated Press
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AMA Website press release: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/maves-to-leave-ama.shtml
Michael Maves, MD, MBA, Executive Vice President and CEO, to Leave the AMA on June 30, 2011
For immediate release:
Nov. 4, 2010
Read entire statement at link above.
Also see: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2865654,ama-ceo-is-out-110410.article
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Stay well,
Donald
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Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD
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