Health Law & Policy

A developing advocacy campaign in Washington state has the AACU Government Affairs team implementing the very practices described in this space and thereby urged upon urologists in seemingly ad nauseum Calls to Action.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF) announced it was no longer recommending the PSA test to screen healthy men for prostate cancer, but experts say the impact this recommendation could have on health insurance coverage and treatment decisions remains unclear. While insurers are likely to take their time issuing formal coverage decisions, the AUA and other urology organizations have been quick to respond to the recommendation.

The Alliance of Specialty Medicine soundly rejected MedPAC?s approval of a recommendation that Congress reform the Medicare reimbursement system by reducing reimbursements to specialists by 5.9% per year for 3 years while freezing the reimbursement rate for primary care physicians.

The AUA said the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is "doing a great disservice" to patients with its draft recommendations regarding the PSA test.

The future of patient-centered urologic care depends on collaboration with allied advocacy affiliates.

After seeing physicians in Maine ask legislators to delay a bill limiting medical liability, speculation is that because doctors who have joined large groups or hospital practices have fewer concerns related to running a business-eg, meeting payroll, hiring staff, malpractice premiums, and meeting overhead-their priorities might be shifting.

The American Medical Association and 91 state and specialty medical societies, including the AUA, recently submitted formal comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the proposed changes to the electronic prescribing penalty program.

While very few legislatures remain in session after July 1, from late summer into early fall and beyond, so-called interim committees meet with regularity to establish much of the agenda that will be considered the next year.

The House of Representatives has approved an amendment offered by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) to increase funding for prostate cancer research by $16 million.

Rising operating costs and selecting and implementing a new electronic health records (EHR) system are among medical practice professionals? greatest challenges to running a group practice, recent questionnaire results indicate.

Two issues of concern to urologists?compensation for ancillary services and the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula?are among the issues discussed by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) in its June 2011 report to Congress.

The AUA recently voiced its support for the Prostate Research, Outreach, Screening, Testing, Access and Treatment Effectiveness (PROSTATE) Act of 2011, H.R. 2159, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and Paul Broun, MD (R-GA).

In March 2011, urologists united their voices once again in Washington at the 6th Annual Joint Advocacy Conference (JAC).

The American College of Surgeons has called on members of Congress to eliminate the current sustainable growth rate (SGR) Medicare physician payment formula and transition over the next 5 years to a new physician payment system that fairly reflects the costs of providing high-quality health care.

The non-medical use of prescription drugs is thought to represent the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, and urologists aren't immune to it.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the new health care reform law, takes some "paltry steps" toward improving the quality of medical care, but it ignores the most fundamental problem that still begs for a solution-how to fairly compensate physicians who treat Medicare patients.

If the trends currently in motion continue, you will see the beginning of accountable care organizations in 2012, with increasing numbers of them year by year, unless there is a repeal of the shared savings portion of the Affordable Care Act or the final rule restricts the potential savings that can be obtained by any ACO.

The AUA has announced its support for newly introduced legislation designed to address urotrauma, a growing concern among active military personnel and veterans.

As physicians, hospitals, insurance companies, and other organizations grapple with this new entity, it appears there are more questions than answers.

Determined to defend their profession and their practices, some 180 urologists from 39 states across the nation came to Washington in late March for the 2011 Joint Advocacy Conference, sponsored by the AUA and the American Association of Clinical Urologists.

With Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, there is some potential good news and bad news for physicians, including urologists, as the drive to slash the federal deficit moves into high gear.

Cries of "copycat" may be heard from a chorus of voices as legislators "borrow" policy initiatives from their fellow mad scientists in the "laboratories of democracy."

The AUA, the American Association of Clinical Urologists, and seven other specialty societies have joined forces to support legislation introduced in the Maryland General Assembly to amend the state?s current self-referral law, which the AUA says threatens to seriously restrict patient access to imaging and radiation therapy services.

Urologists respond to the FDA's ruling on dutasteride and finasteride.

With huge Medicare reimbursement cuts for physicians now off the table for this year, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has proposed a 1% increase for 2012 as a way of encouraging physicians to continue to treat Medicare patients.

Given mounting pressures on Medicaid programs and new health insurance products, physicians must retain the flexibility to make their own business decisions and not be required to accept payments for their services that do not meet their costs.

Arguments abound as to whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will drive health care costs up or down. Until provisions related to health insurance, information technology, Medicare, and Medicaid are implemented over the next several years, those battles will mostly be fought in arenas that do not impact the practice of urology today.

Will 2011 be the year that medical malpractice reform becomes a reality? The new political alignment in Congress appears to offer more hope than in many years past, and advocates are anxious to achieve that long-elusive objective.

For several urologists, the concept behind reform was strong, but the logistics of implementing it are daunting.

Urologists have strong opinions about politics and health care reform. About four out of five urologists are extremely or very concerned about declining reimbursement, increasing government regulations, and health care reform regulations.