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Congressmen Artur Davis (D-AL) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) have asked their Democrat and Republican House colleagues to join with them in cosponsoring The Community Cancer Care Preservation Act of 2007 (H.R. 1190).
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Senators Arlen Specter and Robert P. Casey, Jr. sent a letter to their fellow Senators to ask them to co-sponsor The Community Cancer Care Preservation Act of 2007 (S. 1750). The Senators state that “ they understand firsthand the adverse impact that cuts to Medicare reimbursement are having on community cancer clinics in our state as well as others.” You can help Senators Specter and Casey by sending an email to your Senators asking them to co-sponsor S. 1750. Click on the Legislative Action Center on the lower red toolbar. Click here to download a copy of the letter sent by Senators Specter and Casey.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The long-term financial health of the nation's two biggest entitlement programs improved slightly from a year ago because of higher expected immigration, but remains very fragile, according to the annual report released Tuesday by the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare programs.
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The Medicare Trustees have issued another statutory “Medicare funding warning,” indicating that Federal general revenues are becoming a substantial share of total financing for Medicare.
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An analysis of 50 Phase III studies involving Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents (ESAs) will be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which will be released today. The analysis concludes that patients receiving ESAs had a higher risk of death and venous thromboembolism. Both of these events have been previously reported and are reflected in the recently-revised ESA labeling.
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If you want to correct the Medicare cuts to cancer care, and in the process relieve cuts being implemented by private payers following Medicare, please reach out to your Members of Congress now.
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As the new President of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), I want to thank the COA Board of Directors for the privilege and opportunity to serve community oncology. Dr. Fred Schnell, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, has provided extraordinary leadership and vision for COA as President during the past eighteen months. I will do my best to continue that legacy.
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As the end of 2007 is near, and Congress prepares to recess until mid-January of 2008, there are three important issues under consideration by Congress.
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Everyone should be aware by now that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just recently approved new, revised labeling for Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents (ESAs). This revised labeling includes warnings about potential risks of using ESAs when hemoglobin levels are ≥12 g/dL. However, the FDA clearly is allowing physicians to exercise their clinical judgment in using ESAs, especially at hemoglobin levels of ≥10 g/dL but <12 g/dL. This is in sharp contrast to the National Coverage Determination (NCD) on ESAs that severely hinders physicians from exercising clinical judgment in treating their senior cancer patients covered by Medicare.
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As President of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), I want to encourage all of community oncology to be fully engaged with their members of Congress during these next very critical weeks. Last week, I was in Washington, DC with my COA colleagues and our lobbying team and would like to make a few observations that I hope will underscore the need to be involved.
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Medicare is far and away the biggest health insurer. So Medicare decisions about how doctors and hospitals get paid influence care. Read this article, written by my colleague Dr. Howard LeWine, and then check out my take on this matter by reading my comments at the end of the article, which are in bold.
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Edie Gieg, 85, strides ahead of people half her age and plays a fast-paced game of tennis. But when it comes to health care, she is a champion of “slow medicine,” an approach that encourages less aggressive — and less costly — care at the end of life.
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Gary Plemons wears an ostomy pouch following surgery to treat his colon cancer. He also takes medication to keep his depression and paranoia at bay.
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In an ABC News/Washington Post poll last fall, 62 percent of the respondents favored a universal, government-run medical insurance program. Such surveys reflect a widespread frustration with a health care system that is too expensive, too uncertain, and too complicated.
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UnitedHealth Group, one of the biggest U.S. insurers, said on Thursday it would stand by its current payment policy for use of controversial but widely used anemia drugs sold by Amgen Inc and Johnson & Johnson.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Provider Communications Group hosted the second in a series of national provider conference calls on the 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) on Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced steps it is taking to encourage physicians and other eligible professionals to participate in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)
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The CMS Online Manual System: A Web-based Manual System for Medicare Contractors, Providers and State Agencies brochure has been updated and is now available.
Download a copy of the CMS Online Manual System. Click here..
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Medicare Program: Proposed Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 Rates; Proposed Changes to Disclosure of Physician Ownership in Hospitals and Physician Self-Referral Rules; Proposed Collection of Information Regarding Financial Relationships Between Hospitals and Physicians
Download a copy of the proposed Medicare changes. Click here..
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Topics address issues with chemotherapy and demonstration project billing
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Click here to view a copy of the request.
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On behalf of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), I want to thank you for introducing HR 5704, The Access to Medicare Imaging Act.
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Click here to download a copy of the COA final comments on CAP.
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Click here to download a copy of the COA comments on CAP.
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Click here to a Summary of the Competitive Acquisition Program (CAP) prepared by the the Community Oncology Alliance (COA). It contains a brief overview of CAP and a summary list of the things community cancer clinics would be required to do under CAP.
Click here to download a detailed Q&A of the CAP program. This Q&A includes important questions and answers for the community cancer clinic considering CAP. Most critical is the list provided in this document of the questions community cancer clinics need to ask in considering CAP enrollment.
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Community Oncology Alliance © 2008 | | |
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