Annual ASA Legislative Conference
Features Talks by Administration, Congressional
Leaders
Michael Scott, J.D., Director
Governmental and Legal Affairs
Nearly 400 ASA members traveled to Washington,
D.C., to participate in ASA’s 2004 Legislative
Conference held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel on May
3-5. Highlights of the conference included presentations
by four representatives of the Administration as
well as several congressional leaders, including
the chairs of the Senate Finance Committee and House
Ways and Means Committee.
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| Richard H. Carmona, M.D. |
Karen Tandy |
Unique to the 2004 conference were the first ASA
“Excellence in Government” awards, which
were given to Congressman Dave Weldon, M.D. (R-FL)
and Bertram W. Coffer, M.D., a member of the North
Carolina Society of Anesthesiologists. Dr. Weldon
was the key House figure supporting ASA’s
position opposing the proposal by President Clinton
to eliminate physician supervision of nurse anesthetists;
Dr. Coffer, a former chair of ASA’s Committee
on Governmental Affairs, has been active in supporting
numerous candidates for federal and state office.
Two Administration speakers offered the Administration’s
position on public health issues. United States
Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., reviewed
the Administration’s goals on some of these
issues, includingemphasis on prevention, as distinct
from treatment, of health problems; increasing the
nation’s preparedness to deal with disasters,
natural or human-made; and to eliminate, not just
reduce, disparities among our citizens in terms
of access to health care. Karen Tandy, Administrator
of the Drug Enforcement Administration, stressed
her strong personal commitment to achieving, through
ongoing dialogue with physician groups such as ASA,
an appropriate and workable balance between the
need to conduct DEA’s campaign against drug
abuse and the responsibility of pain management
physicians to treat their patients fully and effectively.
Also representing the Administration were William
D. Rogers, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and
Margaret Spellings, Assistant to the President for
Domestic Policy. Dr. Rogers reviewed a series of
current CMS initiatives relating to anesthesiologist
practice under the Medicare program, including a
current effort to provide reimbursement parity for
the teaching of residents. Ms. Spellings reviewed
the features of the Medicare Modernization Act passed
last November and emphasized President Bush’s
continuing commitment to achieving meaningful medical
professional liability reform at the federal level.
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| Bertram W. Coffer, M.D.,
North Carolina Society of Anesthesiologists |
Congressman Dave Weldon,
M.D. |
Grassley, Thomas Review
SGR Update
Both Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), Chair of
the Senate Finance Committee, and Representative
William M. Thomas (R-CA), Chair of the House Ways
and Means Committee, expressed their views regarding
the importance of passage of the Medicare Modernization
Act and noted the provisions of the bill improving
physician reimbursement. Both also acknowledged,
however, the need for Congress to deal with the
Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) update formula
in 2005 or risk impairment of patient access to
physician services.
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| Rep. William M. Thomas |
Sen. Charles E. Grassley
|
Sen. George Allen |
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| Rep. Fortney H. “Pete”
Stark |
Sen. Jack Reed |
Rep. Charles Norwood |
Mr. Thomas expressed concern about the apparent
disparity of anesthesiologist reimbursement under
Medicare compared to the rest of medicine and took
note of the letter that was being sent by Representatives
Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT) and Fortney H. “Pete”
Stark (D-CA), respectively chair and ranking member
of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, asking
the General Accounting Office to look into the matter
and to determine whether beneficiary access was
being impaired.
Other legislators addressing the conference included
Mr. Stark, Senators George Allen (R-VA) and Jack
Reed (D-RI) and Representative Charles Norwood (R-GA).
Mr. Norwood reviewed proposals, including his own,
currently before the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce to improve the monitoring of prescriptions
for controlled substances.
ASA members who participated at the conference took
the occasion to visit their legislators on Capitol
Hill. Principal issues raised in these meetings
involved the inadequacy of the Medicare SGR update
formula, the disparity in Medicare reimbursement
of anesthesia services and the failure of the Senate
to enact meaningful professional liability reform
legislation.
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