Message from MSSNY President, Paul Hamlin, MD

Colleagues:
Your presence is needed in Albany on March 19-20 for MSSNY’s Physicians’ Capital Forum.

Last year, with the help of available technology, MSSNY changed the format of our State Legislation Day to a new format that contained both a webconferenced presentation and Q&A with key healthcare policymakers as well as a lobby day for physician leaders.  In 2011, whether in Albany or by teleconference, over 1000 physicians, residents and medical students participated in this exciting format!

Similar to last year, Physicians have options for participation for the evening of March 19:

Attend a Q & A session with our state legislators in Albany on March 19 (5-7 pm) at the Crowne Plaza Hotel; and either stay over that night or come to Albany the next day (Tuesday, March 20) and see your legislators to talk to them about physician issues.

• Participate with physicians in your area by coming to one of the 15 convenient locations throughout the state.
• Participate through your PC from your office or home.

After very brief presentations from the invitees (not yet finalized), you will have an opportunity to send in your question in real time to the forum or you can send them in beforehand to be read.

However, we need you in Albany on March 20!

To newcomers who feel unfamiliar with MSSNY’s legislative issues, do not worry. You will have an early morning briefing by our Governmental Affairs division on a multitude of health care policy issues that are under consideration by our State Legislature including Medical Liability, Managed Care, Scope of Practice and important Public Health issues (i.e. IStop and hydrofracking).

After the briefing, there will be transportation to Capitol Hill for one-on-one meetings with your local legislators that will be set up by your county executives.

Please participate in Physicians’ Capital Forum. We owe it to our profession. 

Paul Hamlin, MD

President, MSSNY

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BREAKFAST AT THE BAR WITH THE MEDICAL SOCIETY

SEMINAR SERIES - JANUARY 25, 2012

7:30 - 9:00 AM

Erie County Medical Society Conference Center

1317 Harlem Road, Buffalo, NY 14206

 “THE NEW YORK WAGE THEFT PROTECTION ACT: 

WHAT IT MEANS FOR EMPLOYERS"

Presented by:

JOHN M. GODWIN, ESQ.

Hodgson Russ LLP

Mr. Godwin will present information on this new legislation which mandates new notice

 and recordkeeping requirements, whistleblower protections, and has significant liability

provisions for all employers

Reservations Required, Space is Limited

RSVP by Friday, January 20, 2012

716-852-2930 (fax), or Lindsay@eriemds.org

1317 Harlem Road, Buffalo, NY 14206

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Online 6-Hour Safe Driving Accident Prevention Program:

• 10% reduction in the base rate of the motorist's current automobile liability and collision insurance premiums each year for three years.
• Eligible to reduce as many as four (4) points on your driving record.
• Registration Fee Discounted to members.

You now have the flexibility to log on and off the program at your convenience - you do not have to complete the course in one sitting; the course remembers the section you last completed and puts you right back where you left off. This course is sponsored by ASI, Inc.#28 and you can register by clicking this REGISTRATION LINK.

If you have already registered and are returning to complete the course, you must click the returning student link below to get back to where you left off.

RETURNING STUDENT LINK

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With the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction failing to reach agreement on a deficit-reduction proposal, physicians still face a 27 percent cut in Medicare physician payments scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. Congress has missed an opportunity to address the nation's fiscal problems, stabilize the Medicare program and permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.

"The deficit committee had a unique opportunity to stabilize the Medicare program for America's seniors now and for generations to come," AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, said in a statement. "Once again, Congress failed to stop the charade of scheduled annual physician payment cuts and short-term patches that spend more taxpayer money to perpetuate a policy all agree is fatally flawed. A decade of uncertainty and repeated threats of steep cuts threaten access to care for seniors and military families who rely on the Medicare and TRICARE programs."

Proposals to repeal the SGR fell victim to disagreement over fundamental principles for achieving deficit reduction. Sharp partisan division over the mix of entitlement cuts and tax hikes prevented the supercommittee from reaching any agreement on a deficit-reduction package.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) were among the leading advocates for SGR repeal in the supercommittee negotiations. Earlier this year, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) had also offered a deficit-reduction package that included SGR repeal.

Congressional action expected to avert 27 percent cut on Jan. 1

Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have publicly stated their commitment to take action this year to avert the 27 percent cut. Options for SGR relief outside of the supercommittee process have ranged from short-term patches of a year or two to longer-term relief that provides for transition to a new Medicare physician payment system.

The scope of the next SGR intervention will not come into better focus until Congress returns from its Thanksgiving break. Congress has a number of items of unfinished business that require action before departing for the Christmas holidays. Stay tuned for future updates via the Physicians' Grassroots Network and other AMA communications.

Medicare participation/nonparticipation status

Medicare carriers have distributed information to determine if physicians want to modify their status as participating or nonparticipating physicians. The AMA has developed the "Know your options: Medicare participation guide"* to help physicians evaluate their options and choose the direction that is suitable for their practice.

The kit contains a detailed explanation of physician options, a calculator and various sample materials for communicating with patients. Given the current level of uncertainty, physicians may want to defer making a decision on their participating/nonparticipating status for a few weeks. Physicians have until Dec. 31 to modify their status.

What can you do at this juncture?

Register your strong concerns with your members of Congress that yet another SGR deadline is approaching and Congress has yet to act. Call the AMA grassroots hotline at (800) 833-6354 and ask your representatives and senators what specific steps they will take to end the annual SGR fiasco.  If they tell you that they are "with you," remind them about the multiple missed deadlines in 2010. Physicians and their patients need action rather than vague expressions of support

Thanks for past grassroots efforts; frustration, fatigue understandable

AMA elected leadership and management thank all of you who have responded to our calls to action. Your hard work has helped us generate a massive grassroots outcry from both physicians and patients on behalf of SGR repeal, with more than 250,000 email and phone call contacts to Congress on this issue in just a few months.

Everyone in the medical community is tired and frustrated with the annual Medicare payment battle. Responsibility for the current situation rests squarely with one group: Congress. Medicine should not beg or plead for short-term relief that grows the problem. It is up to our elected leaders to carry out commitments made to physicians and patients.

Sequestration cuts

Current law stipulated that across-the-board cuts totaling $1.2 trillion will be imposed in 2013 if the supercommittee fails to achieve this targeted amount. This spending reduction is to be equally divided between defense and non-defense programs.

Medicare cuts are limited to a 2 percent reduction in provider payments. This sequestration cut would be separate or on top of any potential SGR reduction. Given the severe cuts that sequestration would impose on defense and other programs, there has been extensive discussion by members of Congress regarding passage of new legislation to prevent sequestration from being implemented in 2013.

Educational Opportunities”

1. The AMA’s Know Your Options:  Medicare Participation Guide can be

           downloaded at ama-assn.org/go/medicare options

Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D. Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and  Medical Director of Roswell Park's Surgical Services , is the new president of the Medical Society of the County of Erie.  He was installed at the Society’s annual meeting at Templeton Landing, on Wednesday evening, May 11, 2011.  He succeeds Eugene J. Kalmuk Jr, M.D.

A native of Buffalo, Doctor Lema received his medical training at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center followed by an internship at Staten Island Hospital, and residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.  In addition, he holds a Ph.D. in Physiology from the University at Buffalo.    He is a Diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners, and is a member of the American Medical Association, the Medical Society of the State of New York, the International Anesthesia Research Society, the American Pain Society, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine and the NYS Society of Anesthesiologists.

Dr. Lema has served as the Medical Society of the County of Erie’s secretary-treasurer, vice-president and president-elect. 

Other officers installed at the Medical Society’s annual meeting include: Raymond V. Paolini, M.D., president-elect; Thomas A. Lombardo, M.D. , vice president; and John B. Wiles, M.D., secretary-treasurer. All will serve a one-year term.

Also elected for one-year terms are the chairs of the Society’s standing committees. They are Paul M. Anain, M.D., Economics/Workers Compensation;   Edward K. Bartels, MD, Delegates to the Medical Society of the State of New York;  Joseph Rusnak, M.D. Legislation;  Charles E. Wiles, M.D., Medical Services;   Paul J. Mason, M.D. Membership;  Stephen P. Scrivani, M.D. Public Health;  Thomas R. Elmer, M.D. , Young Physician Section.

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