Volume 6                                                                                                                                                  Issue 2
Southeast News
Your news from the  Southeastern Delegation to the AMA
News from Washington!

Welcome to our Washington Update issue.  We have pertinent articles from Rich Deem of AMA and Tom Rice from Congress.  We believe they are instructive......fair and balanced.  The emphasis is of course on Health Care issues.

Next month will be our Convention Issue for the June Annual AMA meeting.  Support your Southeastern Candidates and Resolutions.  Remember the meeting is a week early this year.

Greg Cooper, MD, Chair, SE Delegation to AMA
Bill Clark, MD, Chair-elect, SE Delegation to AMA
Stephen Imbeau, MD, Immediate Past Chair, Newsletter Editor

Washington Update
Congressman Tom Rice (R-SC)

America used to be a “can do” country, but over the years we’ve become a “you can’t do that” country. We used to encourage growth, investment, and development that helped to make America the country it is today. But over the years we’ve been tying our own hands with red tape and failing to act on needed reforms. 


Under the Obama Administration alone, an unprecedented number of federal regulations were implemented. Just last year the Federal Register, which keeps track of government regulations, was 97,110 pages. For every new law, 18 regulations were enacted. These regulations cost each American $2,496 per year, four times higher than the average annual household heating bill. 

Read the full text of Congressman Rice's article here.


Health System Reform
Richard A. Deem
Senior Vice President, Advocacy

Following up on election campaign promises, Congress quickly considered legislation in March that would have significantly modified the health system reforms established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The replacement plan, known as the American Health Care Act (AHCA), was included in a budget reconciliation bill, which enjoys certain Congressional procedural advantages. Although the legislation was passed by three committees and cleared for a floor vote, it was pulled by the Speaker because it did not have sufficient votes for passage. The situation remains very fluid. Congress may attempt to pass a new bill or a series of bills, and the Administration has signaled that significant regulatory changes will be proposed. 

To read the rest of the article, click here.
BUSINESS CORNER
Changes in Resource Use Measurement
Asa C. Lockhart, MD, MBA
Principal, Golden Caduceus Consultants

MIPS makes you more accountable for spending (resource use) without the resources to control it… so at a minimum we need as accurate measures as possible to describe what we are doing

Some of the scariest words in the English language are “We are the government and we are here to help.”  Although admittedly an outlier, sometimes it is true.  In this edition, I want to discuss some emerging changes in resource use measurements that are scheduled to take effect in January, 2018, that I think you will find a positive development.  The changes are to correct widely accepted deficiencies in the current approach.  They are being developed with the input of your specialty organizations and our AMA.  While the changes with ICD-10 were viewed as a non-value added burden that merited its opposition, I think that we need to view these changes differently.

Dr. Lockhart's article continues here.
For the latest information on issues, meeting dates, helpful resources and pictures from past events make sure to visit the SE Delegation to the AMA's website!
Southeastern Delegation to the AMA
Karen A. Foy
Administrator
4250 A1A S, F-32
St. Augustine, FL  32080
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