About this newsletter
The ACP Advocate is an e-newsletter, edited by the College's Washington, DC governmental affairs division, created to provide you, our members, with succinct news about public policy issues affecting internal medicine and patient care. To learn more about ACP's Advocacy and to access the ACP Advocate archives, go to www.acponline.org/advocacy. |
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Welcome to The ACP Advocate
Our first story today is yet another update for you on the situation in Washington with the fiscal cliff and Medicare payments. As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, Congress passed legislation on Jan. 1 to avert the scheduled Medicare payment cut for this year and to temporarily delay the across-the-board sequestration cuts until March 1. Although this legislation postpones the Medicare SGR cut, preserves the Medicaid primary care increases, and temporarily averts massive cuts in federal health programs that would have had a devastating impact on patient care, it falls well short of our goal to permanently replace the SGR. Check out the article for more about our perspective on the congressional deal and check back in future issues of the Advocate for information on what is happening in Congress as we move closer to the new deadline for the sequester cuts.
Today's second story lets you know about a new campaign from ACP in our state chapters. ACP has developed a campaign to help chapter leaders advocate at the state level to encourage their states to accept the Medicaid expansion. The Medicaid expansion is a crucial piece of the Affordable Care Act that extends coverage to some of our most vulnerable citizens. See the article for more information about what we’re doing.
Finally, our last story is an update for you about one of the new initiatives established by the Affordable Care Act. The Patient-Centered Outcome Research Initiative was established to encourage increases in comparative effectiveness data that can help physicians determine which treatment is the most successful.
For more coverage of what's happening in Washington take a look at my award-winning blog, The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty. You can also follow me on Twitter @BobDohertyACP.
As always, please send your feedback and suggestions on this newsletter to: TheACPAdvocate@acponline.org.
Yours truly,
Bob Doherty
Senior Vice President
Governmental Affairs and Public Policy
American College of Physicians |
In the news
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What Treatment Works Best? |
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25 projects get funding to help determine comparative effectiveness
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A new national initiative has taken another step forward in an effort to provide research-based guidance to doctors, patients and others about a variety of medical dilemmas and challenges.
The nonprofit Patient-Centered Outcom... » Click to read the full article
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In focus
ACP’s In-depth Analysis of ATRA
Learn more about how the specific provisions of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8), the legislation Congress passed to avert the fiscal cliff, compares to ACP policy. This side-by-side analysis looks at the Medicare physician payment provision, as well as other less publicized provisions to show you how they stack up to ACP’s policy goals. |
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