Another Medicare quick fix is not the answer

Lindsay Law

NOLC participants deliver strong message to Congress More than 200 orthopaedic surgeons from around the country converged in Washington, D.C., April 30–May 2, as part of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference (NOLC). The message they delivered to Congress was emphatic: It’s time for a permanent fix to the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) physician payment formula.

Issues facing America: Medicaid

Samir Mehta MD; Ryan Nunley, MD; the Washington Health Policy Fellows

Perhaps no governmental healthcare programs have helped as many people as Medicare and Medicaid. The Medicaid program is the third largest source of health insurance in the United States—after employer-based coverage and Medicare. But, just as the Medicare program is facing overload, with millions of “baby boomers” soon to qualify, the Medicaid program—a joint venture between federal and state governments—is also under stress.

AAOS supports HHS appeal on release of claims data

Grant Nyhammer, JD

The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, along with 16 other medical societies, has filed a “friend-of-the-court brief” in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case brought by Consumers’ Checkbook. The case is pending in the federal court of appeals for the District of Columbia.

Burgess brings unique viewpoint to NOLC

Peter Pollack

“At some point, a financial reckoning has to occur,” Rep. Michael C. Burgess, MD (R-Texas) told AAOS members at the National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference (NOLC). “And when that happens, there’s going to be you-know-what to pay.” Rep. Burgess, now serving a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, has also been a physician of obstetrics and gynecology for more than 21 years.

BOC meets on Capitol Hill

Patrick M. J. Hutton, MD, MBA

The AAOS Board of Councilors (BOC), along with members of the Board of Specialty Societies (BOS) and participants in the Leadership Fellows Program, participated in the National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference (NOLC) in Washington, D.C., April 30–May 3. A state societies strategy meeting for state officers and executives immediately preceded the BOC meeting.

CMS updates 2008 PQRI program

Marty Krawczyk

Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced changes to the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), a claims-based voluntary pay-for-reporting program that began in 2007. These changes open the program to physicians who did not begin participating on Jan. 1, 2008, and provide for alternate reporting options. The AAOS Web site (www.aaos.

Second Look: Reimbursement and Regulation

Report warns that U.S. health system is inadequate to handle aging population The National Academies has released a report asserting that the healthcare workforce in the United States will be unprepared to meet the needs of the aging baby boom population.

AAOS, OTA voice support for funding AFIRM

Lindsay Law

Encourage additional funding for peer-reviewed OETRP The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) have issued a statement voicing their support for the Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM).

Judges boot podiatrists’ definition of foot

A Texas court of appeals has ruled for the Texas Orthopaedic Association/Texas Medical Association (TOA/TMA) and against the Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners (podiatry board) because the podiatry board improperly implemented a new rule that expanded the practice of podiatry. The court of appeals concluded “that the [podiatry] board exceeded its authority when it promulgated the rule and that the rule is invalid.”