AAFP urges all members to ask their Congressional Representative to cosponsor HR 5858, the Primary Care Patient Protection Act, to eliminate primary care cost barriers with high-deductible and high-copayment health plans. This is a money-saving health-promoting measure used in other industrial countries with much lower healthcare costs than ours. You can use AAFP’s Speak Out Service online to contact your Representative.
Several CAFP-priorities were passed in the 2018-19 California State Budget, including $190 million for medical student loan repayment, a significant increase in Medi-Cal payment rates, continuation of Song-Brown Primary Care Physician Training funds, and creating an All Payer Claims Database.
California Department of Justice’s “Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System” (CURES) database is ready for statewide use, and mandatory CURES consultation will become effective on October 2, 2018. Training webinars will be available Noon-1 PM on Wednesdays of August 15 & 29, September 12 & 26, & October 10. To register for one of these webinars, log in to your CURES account at https://cures.doj.ca.gov, and refer to the CURES 2.0 Webinars and Training Bulletin.
CMS has released the 2019 Draft Physician Fee Schedule, and AAFP has prepared a summary. CMS proposes to collapse payment for office visits levels 2-5 into a single payment of $135 for new patients or $93 for established patients (to counter the concern of upgrading office visits to higher levels for higher payment). Also proposed are payments for physicians’ telephone time. CAFP is analyzing the proposed changes and asks members to share their concerns or comments with CAFP (camenta@familydocs.org). CMS will host a “listening session” on the draft on Wednesday, August 22, 10:30AM-Noon Pacific Time, to discuss streamlining E/M payment, advancing virtual care, and improving the Quality Payment Program to reduce clinician burden and promote interoperability. CMS has provided a Quality Payment Program Year 3 (2019) webinar recording & transcript, a slide presentation, and E/M Coding Reform videos. (Register at https://blh.ier.intercall.com/ier/register/c74aee36-e110-4f83-8209-d6bd6209022e.)
The US House of Representatives has passed HR 6199 (“Restoring Access to Medication Act”), which would allow health savings account (HAS) patients to access direct primary care (DPC) for monthly fees no more than $150/patient or $300/family, and would also eliminate requiring a prescription to buy over-the-counter products with HSA dollars.
Physicians must now electronically report HL7 data on patient encounters for diagnosis or treatment of Parkinson’s Disease (if documented by ICD 10 code) to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) for the California Parkinson’s Disease Registry. Providers required to report must first register with CDPH through its Health Information Exchange Gateway. A 206-page document on this requirement is available on the California DPH website. CAFP has worked with a coalition of other groups to reduce the reporting burden on physicians and hopes to amend the program further in the following months.
