On January 7, House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) introduced legislation, House Joint Resolution 3, by which CMS' Medicare Fee Schedule Update rule would be disapproved and become of no effect. Passage of this resolution would mean that 2002 Medicare reimbursement rates would remain in effect until 2004 (unless changed by further legislation during 2003), thus voiding the 3.43 per cent cut for anesthesiologists scheduled to take effect March 1.

On January 8, ASA sent a blast fax to all Members of the House, urging them to cosponsor the resolution. No later than Monday, January 13, ASA President Cottrell will send a blast e-mail Update to the ASA members having Internet capacity, explaining the rationale for ASA's action and explaining the procedure for expedited congressional consideration of the resolution.

In the interim, ASA members are encouraged to continue sending messages to Congress at: http://capwiz.com/asa/issues/alert/?alertid=1074946&type=CO

As of January 8, more than 5500 ASA messages had been sent. Although early House passage of the resolution appears likely, action in the Senate currently remains unclear.