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
In our first story today we bring you an introduction to ACP's new physician leadership’s views on Advocacy. I encourage you to take a look at it to see their perspectives on some of the issues we’ll be tackling together in the next year.
Our second story this issue is an analysis of President Obama’s proposed budget. While in recent years we’ve seen that all of these budget proposals, from the President and from Congress, have little chance of being enacted as whole it’s still important to take them seriously as indicators of where their priorities lie. There are positive and negative things for internists in this proposal and I encourage you to read our story for more details.
Finally, our last story is a recap of the disappointing move by Congress to fail to pass any legislation that would help to prevent firearms related injuries. I believe the issue isn’t dead, certainly not in the public eye, and I don’t believe in Congress either. However, it’s unclear now exactly where the momentum will go. In addition to checking out the article, if you’ve not already read it, I encourage you to take a look at my blog entry on the topic.
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 |
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In focus
Contact your state Medicaid office to qualify for enhanced primary care payments
Primary care and related specialty physicians will see an increase in their Medicaid payments this year to make them at least equivalent to Medicare payments. To ensure that you receive this increase, you must contact your state Medicaid office. Each state has a different timeline and procedure for physicians to fulfill an 'attestation' requirement to receive the payment increases. In some states, physicians may still be able to qualify for payments retroactive to the beginning of the year; however, you need to start the attestation process as soon as possible. Additional information about the enhanced payments is on the College's website. |
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