COMPAC/AMA Luncheon

Friday, November 01, 2013 12:12 PM

Rep. Gardner and AMA expert give members federal update

Kate Alfano, CMS contributing writer

After a lively discussion on resolutions in the House of Delegates on Saturday, Sept. 21, Annual Meeting attendees headed to a sold-out luncheon hosted by the political action committees of the Colorado Medical Society and the American Medical Association that featured Rep. Cory Gardner (R) and AMA Director of congressional affairs Todd Askew.

Christopher Unrein, DO, a COMPAC board member, moderated the luncheon and encouraged all in attendance to join COMPAC and AMPAC. “We are always excited about new members and this is a great opportunity for all of you to get involved and help make a difference in medicine,” he said.

Unrein started the meeting with business. Members voted to accept the new COMPAC board members by adopting the COMPAC nominating report and nominated Tamaan Osbourne-Roberts, MD, as vice chair.

He then introduced Todd Askew, director of congressional affairs for the American Medical Association, who gave members an overview of federal issues concerning medicine. Much of his focus was on the bill to repeal Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula currently being considered by Congress.

The AMA has said repeatedly that continued SGR patches are fiscally irresponsible and that a repeal is fiscally responsible. Since 2003, Congress has enacted 15 patches to stop Medicare physician payment cuts, at a cumulative cost of $146.4 billion. The cost of the patches exceeds the $139.1 billion cost of repealing the SGR and freezing Medicare payments to physicians.

A successful transition plan must provide opportunities for physicians to choose payment models that work for their patients, practice, specialty and region; encourage incremental changes with positive incentives and rewards during a defined timetable; and provide a way to measure progress and show policymakers that physicians are taking accountability for quality and costs.

Next, Unrein introduced U.S. Congressman Cory Gardner, who also spoke about health care on the federal level, particularly the overwhelming support for the SGR repeal bill, and answered questions from the audience. Unrein said Gardner has been a champion for physicians in all aspects of health care for many years. “He supported the SGR repeal that came through his committee [the House Committee on Energy and Commerce], supported payment reforms and worked hard to implement patient safety reforms,” he noted.

A Colorado State University graduate, Gardner is a Republican serving the sprawling fourth district of Colorado. He often speaks about rural issues, and stated his support for tele-health to increase access in rural areas. “We have to make sure medical education is affordable and doesn’t negatively influence the rural physician workforce,” he said.

Gardner said he believes the president’s health care law makes it difficult for the economy to grow and takes away the ability of patients to make health care decisions. “While our health care system needs reform, imposing unpopular and unaffordable mandates is not the solution. Health care should be about patients and doctors, not government and bureaucrats. Through promoting greater competition between insurers and by protecting our providers from frivolous lawsuits, we can ensure that consumers receive better services at a lower cost. In health care decisions, nothing is more important than patient choice.”

Several audience members asked about the replacement legislation if the law is repealed, which would likely come before Gardner’s House committee. He said he has reviewed several proposals and feels they maintain the positive parts of the health care law while also adding promising provisions to cap medical malpractice damages, among others. Gardner stated support for allowing health insurance policies to be bought and sold across state lines, which he said would lower the cost of health insurance and enable more people to purchase coverage.