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Government Affairs and Advocacy
This Week In Washington
Senate Unveils
Health Care Reform Bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Nov. 18 unveiled
health care reform legislation that would expand coverage to 31
million uninsured Americans. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
estimates 94 percent of the nation's population (excluding unauthorized
immigrants) will have health care coverage under the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590). The bill represents a merger
of health care reform legislation passed by the Finance (S. 1796)
and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (S. 1679) committees.
Sen. Reid hopes to hold the first procedural vote on H.R. 3590 before
the Senate leaves for the Thanksgiving recess.
House Approves
Physician Payment Legislation
The House of Representatives Nov. 19 passed (243-183) AAMC-supported
legislation that averts a scheduled 21.2 percent reduction in Medicare's
2010 physician payments. The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act
(H.R. 3961) establishes a 1.2 percent update for 2010 (the percentage
increase in the Medicare Economic Index). It also eliminates the
$210 billion sustainable growth rate (SGR) deficit, rebases physician
payments, and establishes two new service-specific target growth
rates.
AAMC Testifies
at HIT Standards Committee Meeting
AAMC Chief Health Care Officer, Joanne Conroy, M.D., Nov. 19
testified before the Health Information Technology (HIT) Standards
Committee on teaching hospitals and health systems' experience with
data theft, loss, and misuse. In her remarks, Dr. Conroy highlighted
the unique security issues AAMC members face because of the number
of patients they treat, the number of sites - both inpatient and
outpatient - where they provide health care, the number of individuals
they employ, the students they train, and the clinical research
they conduct.
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