CAFP physicians and medical students have been advocating for SB 22 (Roth), which would appropriate $300 million over the next 3 years to grow primary care residency programs in California. These training programs are facing a $40 million funding shortage, despite an urgent need to increase primary care training for the workforce needed for expanding health care coverage and controlling health care costs. Please contact CAFP staff for any questions, at 415-345-8667 or cafp@familydocs.org.
California physicians must register for the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) by July 1, 2016. A recent webinar on CURES 2.0 registration is available at http://www.familydocs.org/news/cures-webinar-available-on-demand. It reviews key user features and how to avoid technical problems. 2.4 million Americans use prescription drugs for non-medical purposes, a growing epidemic requiring increased precaution in prescribing. California’s rates are lower than some other states.
The “End-of-Life Option” Act (modeled after the Oregon law) goes into effect June 9, allowing a physician to prescribe end-of-life medication to a terminal patient upon his or her request after numerous requirements are met. Given the new law and the attention it has raised on end-of-life care, CAFP is launching a broad initiative to improve advanced care planning and conversations between physicians and patients and their families. You can find more information at www.familydocs.org/eol.
SB 277 requires vaccination of all children in school or daycare, except for exemptions determined medically necessary by a physician (such as an immune deficiency), and disallowing exemptions based on religious or personal beliefs. A recent Nevada County measles outbreak among unvaccinated children, as well as the well-publicized Disneyland outbreak, demonstrated the population risks of low vaccination rates.
CAFP is supporting the tobacco tax initiative (adding $2/pack) for the November ballot (the signature-gathering deadline is April 19). It would reduce smoking rates, improve public health, and generate revenue for raising Medi-Cal payment rates to Medicare levels and supporting primary care and emergency medicine residency programs. The tobacco industry is expected to spend nearly $100 million against this measure.
