There are two IMMEDIATE items that we ask you to contact your Representatives’ and Senators’ offices about TODAY!

The first is to invite your Representatives’ health legislative staff to a Capitol Hill briefing on the Components of Care Study and the recently announced Medicare reimbursement cuts. Drs. David Eagle and Patrick Cobb will be presenting both topics. It is critical that House health staff understand what is required in delivering cancer care and why reimbursement is insufficient, especially in light of the recently announced phased-in cuts.

We were successful in averting the severe cuts for 2010 because of the outreach from community oncology to Congress.  Now, it is critical to continue that outreach to avert any phased-in cuts and to make a case for help for cancer care in the final health care reform bill.  

We urge you to invite health staff to this briefing and, in the process, communicate the impact that the Medicare cuts will have on your practice.  Do not expect them to be mind readers about these cuts.  You need to explain them.

The second is to ask your Senators to join Senators Specter, Casey, Brown, and Stabenow in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid to include the cancer care prompt pay solution in the Senate health care reform bill.  As you know, the prompt pay discount artificially reduces Medicare and any private payer reimbursement based on Average Sales Price (ASP) by approximately 2%.  The solution proposed by Senators Specter, Casey, Brown, and Stabenow is a modified version of existing legislation in the Senate (S. 1221) and the House (H.R. 1392).

This letter will close by the end of the day tomorrow so reaching out today is critical! Understand that advocating for this prompt pay solution has also been critical in calling attention to the growing crisis in cancer care and in averting further cuts to ASP + 6% drug reimbursement, especially given the payment cuts to outpatient hospitals for drug reimbursement.

On the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) website at www.communityoncology.org in the Immediate Action Needed section (top post) we include simple communication points and contact information for health legislative staff.

Please make these contacts today and spread the word.  Community oncology needs to continue fighting during this health care reform debate!

One final note is that we expect that the House will vote this week on H.R. 3961, which would avert the 21.5% general Medicare physician payment cut.  Rather than the typical one-year patch, this would change the payment system going forward. However, although it is expected that the House will pass this measure, it will likely stall in the Senate along with the House health care reform bill, H.R. 3962.  So, although advancing legislation is usually a positive step, in this case it is unclear. COA will provide more as this unfolds.

Look for the Senate to start debate on its health care reform bill early this week. This will be an important first step for the Senate and bears watching.