"Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings." - Helen Keller
 

Good Morning,

I returned to Tallahassee last Monday. After a phone conference with our administrative audit contractor, I met FMA Past President, Dr. Gerold Schiebler for dinner to review state regulatory issues of concern to our profession. The next morning I met with key FMA staff. Dr. Miguel Machado, Chair of the FMA's Council on Legislation, drove in from St. Augustine and, together, we met with our Public Affairs staff led by Mr. Tim Stapleton. We reviewed various items including our afternoon meeting with the Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Dr. Andrew Agwunobi.

Our meeting with Secretary Agwunobi and his senior staff was most informative and positive. Recognizing the crisis that is Access to Care, Secretary Agwunobi will request additional Medicaid funds for physicians in his Agency's 2008 budget. While the details are being developed, we applaud this first step to raise physician Medicaid payments to at least Medicare levels. We will be working with the Governor, as well as House and Senate leadership to improve this population's access to all physicians. We also discussed the need to protect emergency health care services in our state, and how physician shortages impact access to care for ALL citizens. For a state-by-state analysis of Medicaid funding for physician services, read this article: http://www.fmaonline.org/zuckerman_2004.pdf. Please note that Florida is approximately 40th in state ranking--still far behind Mississippi. As some have reminded me, we obviously have something to learn from the Magnolia State.

On Wednesday, I participated in a conference call of the FMA's Administrative Audit Committee, Chaired by Dr. Stephan Baker. Progress continues and they are well ahead of my expectations. This call was followed by a phone conference of the FMA Executive Committee. We discussed the details of our Association's legal audit nearing completion. Membership revenue for 2008 is THREE TIMES the year-to-date totals from last year. This is the result of a focused plan being coordinated by Mrs. Kimberly Scott, FMA's Interim Operations Officer. A staff reorganization plan was approved. The President's veto of SCHIP legislation was also discussed. We are again petitioning Congress for an SGR fix to avoid what will likely be catastrophic cuts. It is time to contact your congressperson and Senators and appeal for a resolution that allows Medicare payments to increase with inflation, and for the ability to balance bill. Dr. Steve West, FMA President-Elect, will explore our hiring of a lobbyist in Washington D.C. to represent the interests of Florida's physicians.

On Thursday evening, I traveled to Jacksonville for a Friday morning meeting with FMA Treasurer, Dr. Alan Harmon, and Mrs. Kimberly Scott. Preparations for the 2008 budget are well underway and the FMA Finance Committee will be spending a great deal of time preparing its presentation later this month to the FMA Board of Governors.

At lunch Friday I met with the Physician's Advantage team--the FMA's endorsed Comprehensive Asset Protection (CAPS) plan. We discussed their activities on behalf of our members and their plans for the future. We also discussed the challenges facing our profession and how we can work together to improve patient access to care.

Click here to read an article from last week's New York Times reporting the effect of real tort reform in Texas. This state is attracting physicians in record numbers especially from New York, California and FLORIDA. The gains in high-risk specialties "have been especially striking." The trial bar is most displeased, which means that the citizens of Texas are benefiting from improved access to care.

We received word that the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) legislation passed the House and Senate late last week and this bill is on its way to the Governor's desk for his signature. A full summary will follow in Dr. Machado's forthcoming FMA Council on Legislation report.

The FMA's Committees and Councils, as well as the FMA Board of Governors will be meeting on October 26-28, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay (http://www.fmaonline.org/bogmtg.asp). Please make plans to attend and participate. After all, our group Intelligence Quotient is much higher than any of our individual IQs, and these meetings are an efficacious remedy for apathy. I look forward to seeing you there.

Until next week...


Sincerely,
Karl M. Altenburger, M.D.
President, Florida Medical Association