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DGR Telephone:
703-907-7800 |
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Follow APA Advocacy on Twitter!
The APA Department of Government Relations is now on Twitter! Now you can find out about APA Advocacy activities, Congressional hearings, mark-ups, and floor votes in real time.
Please click on the following link to start following APA Advocacy Twitter:
http://twitter.com/apa_
advocacy
Questions about the Twitter page or how to set up an account? Please contact Kate McAllister or Jason Pray at advocacy@psych.org. | |
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APA Calls for More GME Support for Psychiatrists
On January 7, APA President Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D., called on Congress to increase federal support for residency training for psychiatrists and other physicians. The comments were included in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about possible House-Senate compromise health reform legislation. Dr. Schatzberg noted that:
"We applaud provisions included in the House and Senate bills designed to support an adequate physician workforce to meet the needs of a growing, aging and increasingly diverse population. The health of our nation relies on timely and accurate diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses. Unfortunately, we suffer a nationwide shortage of psychiatric physicians to adequately meet the needs of our population. Medicare's support for residency training is crucial to ensuring that our institutions can respond to community needs. The House- and Senate-passed bills preserve current GME funding and rely on redistribution of unused slots to add only a few hundred physicians a year to the current pipeline. We urge further expansion of Medicare-funded graduate medical education to support primary care as well as under-represented specialties like psychiatry that serve primary healthcare needs. Promoting the practice of psychiatry, particularly child and adolescent psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry, is necessary to meet the current and future needs of our population."
To view the full letter follow the link below:
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HIT Incentive Payments Released
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, released draft rules implementing Medicare and Medicaid financing of physician and hospital adoption of electronic medical records as called for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). ARRA authorized an estimated $20 billion for eligible physicians and hospitals to implement electronic health record systems but left many of the details and requirements to the agencies overseeing the program. The proposed rule is based on recommendations from ONC's HIT Policy Committee that seeks to achieve meaningful use through staged criteria going into effect in 2011, 2013, and 2015. However, the draft rule only details the "Stage 1" 2011 criteria. Comments are due to HHS by the end of February.
To view the proposed rule, click here. APA is currently reviewing the draft proposal and plans to comment.
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Is Democratic Hold on Congress Slipping?
With the recent retirement announcements by several Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives, some pundits are speculating that the 2010 elections could revitalize the GOP and even catapult them into control of the Senate and/or House. But what's the real prospect?
In reality, not much has changed. There are still more Republican retirements than Democrat and although GOP retirements are considered safer as far as retention, they are not going to sweep every other election that is in play and the pure number at stake is not enough for control of Congress to switch. In the Senate, there are ten races considered "toss up", six are currently held by Democrats (Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania) and four are currently held by Republicans (Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Ohio). Democratic control of the chamber is not likely to change; although Republicans are confident they will cut into the 60-seat Democrat majority. In the House, the likely GOP increase will be slightly more significant but still not enough. There are currently eighteen races considered "toss up", sixteen are currently held by Democrats and only two by Republicans. Of all the recent retirements, Rep. John Tanner (D-TN) was the only real "secure" seat the GOP will now likely get that they were not already counting on.
Of course, there is plenty of time for the outlook to change either way. As of now however, it looks to be a fairly traditional mid-term election with the minority party making gains across the board. | |
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