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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
House to Vote on Bill Blocking SGR Cut This Week; Join AGS in Advocating for Passage
The House of Representatives is expected to vote later this week on essential legislation that would block the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula-mandated 21% cut in Medicare payments to physicians that's slated to take effect January 1, and replace the SGR with a new reimbursement formula. The AGS continues to advocate for the proposed legislation – the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009 (HR 3961) – and needs your help. If you haven’t already done so, please contact your representative in the House now and urge him or her to support HR 3961.
Just three weeks ago, opponents of a Senate bill to eliminate the SGR blocked that legislation because the cost of implementing it wasn't offset by spending cuts or increased taxes. In contrast, HR 3961 is tied to statutory "Pay As You Go" rules and would require Congress to pass a binding law that would force it to offset new spending in any bill.
Under HR 3961, expenditures for most physicians' services could increase as much as gross domestic product (GDP) plus one percent each year. To encourage primary and preventive care -- which could result in earlier diagnosis and treatment of illnesses that can be more costly if treated later - Medicare payments for preventive and primary care services could increase as much as GDP plus two percent.
Advocating for HR 3961 is quick and easy: just visit the AGS Health in Aging Advocacy Center and click on "Urge Your Representative to Support Medicare Physician Payment System Reform Vote in Favor of HR 3961," review the letter there (you can edit it if you choose), then fill in the form below and click the "Send Message" button to send the letter to your representative. Other organizations, including the AARP and AMA, are also urging passage of this important proposal.
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In Memoriam: Dean Ross
Dean Ross, who joined the AGS staff as a Membership Assistant in March 1989, died on October 21, after fighting cancer for nearly five years.
Dean was an incredible person -- funny, smart, warm, dedicated to her work with us, and incredibly brave as she fought the terrible disease that took her life. AGS' staff was devoted to her and admired greatly her strength of spirit as she coped with the increasing physical toll her cancer took on her. She never complained and had a sense of humor even about her own condition. Dean missed only a few weeks of work during her illness. In fact, she continued to come to our office until two weeks before she died.
We miss her and extend our sympathies to her family. Dean was a good woman.
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In Memoriam: Gene D. Cohen, MD
Gene D. Cohen, MD, one of the founders of geriatric psychiatry, an expert on Alzheimer's disease, and a valued member of the AGS community, died last week of metastatic prostate cancer. He was 65.
President of the Gerontological Society of America, Dr. Cohen played a key role in shifting the focus of gerontological research from health problems among the aging to potential in later life. He was the first chief of the Center on Aging at the National Institute of Mental Health, where he worked from 1975 to 1988. That year he became first deputy director and then director of the National Institute on Aging. In 1994 Dr. Cohen took the helm as founding director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University, a post he held until his death. He was also involved with the National Center for Creative Aging, which is dedicated to furthering the understanding of the relationship between creativity and quality of life among older adults.
Dr. Cohen was the founding editor of both The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and International Psychogeriatarics, the editor of several seminal text books, and the author of books for general audiences such as, "The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life" and "The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain." He was, the New York Times noted in his obituary, "among the leaders in gerontology to push the field… toward expanding the possibilities of life for the aged." "In my biased view, he was the leader," Marie A. Barnard, Deputy Director of the NIA told The Times.
Dr. Cohen is survived by his wife, Wendy Miller, a brother, a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren. He will be missed.
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In Effort Covered by Boston Globe, AGS, ADGAP Urge That Geriatrics Training Be Part of Med Ed Core
Medical schools should make the unique healthcare needs of older adults a core part of medical education, the AGS and the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs (ADGAP) urged at a meeting of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) earlier this month.
"With the first of the 78 million baby boomers nearing retirement age, the American Geriatrics Society is proposing that elder care be added to the list of six core areas that have long been the focus of medical school training," The Boston Globe reported in a Friday story about AGS' and ADGAP's request. The story quickly became one of the Globe's most frequently emailed.
During the LCME's November 10th meeting, AGS and ADGAP lauded the committee's proposed revisions to its educational standard, Standard ED-15, revisions aimed at improving care for older adults. But the Society and ADGAP also called for two changes to the revised text to ensure such improvements are made.
"Our proposed edits will ensure that medical education truly prepares students to provide care to all patients, regardless of their age," said Lisa Granville, MD, who testified before the committee on behalf of the AGS and ADGAP, and is Chair of the Department of Geriatrics and Professor of Geriatrics at Florida State University College of Medicine. The college, she explained, is the first in the nation to design its students' science and clinical years to ensure competence in elder care.
"We are particularly pleased that the new standard specifically mentions the need to prepare students to care for individuals across the life-span," Dr. Granville said. "However, the AGS and ADGAP would like to request that the LCME consider two edits to the proposed revision to this standard."
To ensure that the new standard is interpreted appropriately -- so medical education prepares students to care for individuals across the life cycle -- the AGS and ADGAP recommended that the committee add the phrase "across the lifecycle" and make related revisions to the statement so it reads:
The curriculum of the educational program must prepare students to enter any field of graduate medical education and include content that, across the life-cycle, will prepare students to recognize wellness, determinants of health, opportunities for health promotion, and symptoms and signs of disease; develop differential diagnoses and treatment plans; and assist patients in addressing health-related issues involving all organ systems.
To ensure that the committee's intent that the content of clinical training span the life-cycle is clear as well, AGS and ADGAP also recommended adding "geriatric medicine" to the statement's list of core areas that are the focus of medical training. This section of the statement would then read:
It is expected that the curriculum will be guided by the contemporary content from and clinical experiences associated with, among others, the disciplines and related subspecialties that have traditionally been titled family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, geriatric medicine, psychiatry, public health, and surgery.
Geriatrics training will have the greatest impact if it's among the core areas of medical training, AGS' Deputy Executive Vice President Nancy Lundebjerg, MPH, told the Globe. "If someone knows they are going to be tested on something, and if someone knows they will be reviewed based on who they performed against the standard they will make sure they address whatever is in the standard," she explained.
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Add Your Photo to Your Member Profile: New Technology Makes It Quick and Easy
As previously reported in AGS Week in Review, AGS has launched a fully searchable on-line membership directory that is available to members on
MyAGS. Members can easily update their information - including uploading a photo. Just click on "My Information," under the "Member Services" tab, to easily edit your information" and upload a photo in jpeg format.
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2010 Medicare Open Enrollment Begins; CMS Urges Beneficiaries to Review Coverage
Medicare's open enrollment period -- during which those eligible for Medicare can review and change their coverage -- began Sunday and will run through December 31. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is encouraging all Medicare beneficiaries to make sure their coverage will continue to meet their needs in the coming year.
Beneficiaries can go to www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to make changes in their Medicare prescription drug and healthcare coverage. Those who have healthcare coverage but haven't signed up for a drug plan can enroll in a drug plan or a health plan that also offers drug coverage.
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Medicare Extends 2010 Enrollment Period to January 31
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has changed the 2010 Annual Participation Enrollment Program deadline from December 31 to January 31, 2010, due to "recent revisions that were made to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule," the agency announced today.
Changes in participation status will take effect January 1, according to the agency, and will remain in effect through the end of 2010.
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2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative Pays Physicians, Others, $92 million in Incentives
The more than 85,000 physicians and other healthcare providers participating in Medicare's Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) last year earned in excess of $92 million in incentives, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week.
The incentives that these healthcare providers -- who satisfactorily reported quality-related data to Medicare -- received were based on 1.5 percent of their allowed charges for covered professional services. The average incentive amount for individual professionals exceeded $1,000. More than 150,600 professionals participated in the program, and the number of eligible professionals who met the requirements for reporting and earned an incentive payment increased by one-third from 2007 -- from 56,700 to more than 85,000 professionals.
CMS added several new features in the 2008 PQRI program to make it easier for healthcare professionals to participate. Among other things, the agency expanded the number of measures from 74 in 2007 to 119 in 2008. In addition, in 2008 eligible professionals had the choice of reporting data on quality measures through a qualified medical registry, which then reported that data to CMS.
Eligible professionals who participated in the 2008 PQRI can access confidential feedback reports that aggregate the data they submitted across all practices with which they're associated. The reports also show professionals how they compare with other participants across the country.
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Help Spread the Word that Medicare /Medicaid Cover Seasonal and H1N1 Flu Shots
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) needs your help getting word out that Medicare and Medicaid cover both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines. The agency has prepared a bilingual, easy-to-read "mini-poster" about the vaccines and urges practitioners to post copies of the poster in places where beneficiaries will see them. The poster is available in the downloadable section of the website.
CMS is also encouraging practitioners to refer patients to www.flu.gov if they need more information about the vaccines. Information for practitioners and others who want to bill Medicare for the flu vaccines is also available, at www.cms.hhs.gov/adultimmunizations, as is a list of regional CMS contacts (on p. 55) that will be helpful for those planning to organize large scale immunization clinics for seniors.
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Nominate Someone for AGS' 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting Awards! Deadline is December 1
The Awards Subcommittee of the 2010 AGS Annual Meeting Program Committee is seeking nominations for several national awards. Read More
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2010 Annual Scientific Meeting Call for Abstracts: Web Site Now Open
The AGS invites you to submit an abstract for presentation as a paper or poster at AGS' 2010 Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 12-15 in Orlando, Florida. The abstract submission site is now open and will remain open through December 1.
Abstract submission categories include: Biology of Aging; Body Composition; Case Studies from Clinical Practice; Clinical Trials; Dental Medicine; Emergency Medicine; Epidemiology; Ethics; Geriatric Education; Geriatric Syndromes; Health Services and Policy Research; Models of Geriatric Care; Neurological and Behavioral Sciences; Organ Specific and Systemic Disorders; Preventive Medicine; Quality of Life; Rehabilitation; and Surgery in Older Patients.
To submit an abstract, visit the Abstract Submission site or the AGS Web site and click on the Abstract Submission link on the 2010 Annual Meeting page. Hard copy submissions will not be accepted.
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Attention all HRSA Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA) Recipients: Submit an Abstract for the 2010 GACA Poster; Deadline is December 1
The AGS invites all Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA) recipients to submit an abstract for presentation at a special poster session for HRSA GACA recipients. The special session affords GACA awardees the opportunity of a peer reviewed submission process as well as national presentation and dissemination of their scholarly work. Interested presenters should submit their abstracts for poster presentation and then check the box indicating that they are GACA Awardees and would like to be considered for the GACA Poster Session at the AGS 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting in Orlando, Florida. The abstract submission site will remain open through December 1
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Call for 2010 T. Franklin Williams Scholars Award (Deadline: January 8, 2010)
The T. Franklin Williams Scholars Award RFP is now available. The T. Franklin Williams Scholar Award is given to a junior faculty geriatrician who is conducting research in collaboration with a sub-specialist of internal medicine on a sub-specialty related health problem of older patients. The award is intended to support the academic career development of a promising geriatrics physician-scientist.
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New York Academy of Medicine Social Work Leadership Institute (NYAM-SWLI) and Hartford Foundation Names Four Aging Education Leadership Award Winners
The Social Work Leadership Institute at the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM-SWLI) and the John A. Hartford Foundation recently honored four individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in aging education with Partnership Program for Aging Education Leadership Awards. Finalists are nominated by their peers and selected by NYAM-SWLI.
The 2009 winners are:
Outstanding Dean: Katharine Briar-Lawson, Dean, School of Social Welfare, University at Albany.
Outstanding Principal Investigator: Jean Schuldberg, Associate Professor, MSW Program Director, HPPAE Coordinator, California State University, Chico.
Outstanding Community Partner: Ellen Harrington, Clinical Social Worker at Boston Medical Center and Field Supervisor for Boston University's Lowy-GEM (Geriatric Empowerment Model) Program in Aging.
Outstanding Student: Lori Paris, 2007 graduate, Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville.
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Got A Minute? Top Health Policy News Picks
AGS' staff and public policy advisors continue to keep an eye out for top healthcare policy stories that our members should read. This week we recommend the 5 picks below
Senate Aides: Reid Considering Medicare Payroll Tax Increase On Wealthy
AMA Takes On Social Issues, Backs Reform, Rebuts 100-Year Trend
On the front lines of health-care reform
Timeline, Vote Counting Continue To Be Central To Senate Health Overhaul
Humana CEO: No regret on Medicare letter
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