March 3, 2011
CAPITOL UPDATE: TAFP responds to attacks on scope with new resource
Plus, don’t miss the first CAPITOL REPORT video of the session
With the 82nd Legislative Session heating up, legislators are hard at work filing bills before the March 11 deadline. Educate yourself on the issues through TAFP’s advocacy resources, especially about scope of practice. This hot-button issue is the subject of the Academy’s newest policy brief.
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TAFP’s Banning addresses health policy issues on TribLive roundtable
At a roundtable on Feb. 23, TAFP CEO Tom Banning joined Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, and Anne Dunkelberg of the Center for Public Policy Priorities to discuss federal health care reform and the consequences of the state’s budget shortfall on health and human services programs. Hosted by the Texas Tribune, the “Reform or Bust?” TribLive event focused on costs of health care. Read the liveblog from the event, view three short video clips, or listen to the audio recording.
AAFP announces new health reform resource, Health Care and You
AAFP has teamed up with a coalition representing consumers, patients, physicians, nurses, hospitals, and pharmacists to create HealthCareandYou.org, an online resource to help physicians and patients better understand what’s in the Affordable Care Act. The interactive website includes facts about the health reform law and state-by-state listings of health care coverage options. It also includes a timeline of implementation for different measures of the law and will be updated should Congress alter it. Go to www.healthcareandyou.org.
DSHS urges physicians to continue administering flu shots
In the middle of an active flu season that won’t end until May, the Texas Department of State Health Services encourages physicians to continue giving this year’s flu shot to patients, particularly in high-risk groups.
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AAFP News Now: CMS Postpones April 1 Implementation of Medicaid RAC Programs
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced that they will delay implementation of the state-based Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor program. The RACs identify and recover overpayment and underpayment of fees to physicians in Medicare and Medicaid. In a letter to CMS, AAFP expressed concerns with the “perverse incentive structure and burdensome nature” of the Medicare RAC program and urged CMS to make changes to the RAC programs for both Medicare and Medicaid. Read the AAFP News Now story here.
EDUCATION UPDATE
Sign up for TAFP’s SAM in McAllen and make progress toward MC-FP
Join your Academy when we present the Self-Assessment Module on Hypertension April 9 at the Renaissance Casa de Palmas in McAllen. Attending one of TAFP’s SAM programs helps you make progress toward one component of the American Board of Family Medicine’s Maintenance of Certification process. For more information and to register, go to www.tafp.org/professional-development/maintenance-of-certification.
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