Earlier today, your CMS Board of Directors reviewed, discussed and adopted detailed positions on the following four substantive matters:
(1) In conjunction with the American Medical Association, strong opposition to the proposed mergers of Aetna and Humana and Anthem and CIGNA;
(2) Reaffirmation of a May 2015 vote designating the resolution of payer issues, most particularly those that create barriers to the provision of optimally effective, safe and cost-effective care and serve as a leading source of physician workplace dissatisfaction and burnout, as a high priority for the remainder of the decade;
(3) Continued vetting with CMS members of proposed changes to CMS policy 170.994, Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide; and
(4) Specific actions to further advance physician care for pain treatment and management while reducing the opioid abuse and misuse crisis in Colorado.
These are activist policies and will be aggressively pursued. They were incubated and methodically developed by your CMS member colleagues with serving on standing councils and committees of CMS who have expertise on these subjects. Three of the four positions were developed in conjunction with results from CMS all-member surveys to ensure representation of the eclectic nature of our members at the exam-room level.
I welcome a reply email from you regarding your thoughts and assessment of the Board's formal positions. Please let me know what you think.
Be sure to watch for the coming issue of
Colorado Medicine, which is devoted to the politics, policy and legal activities on the proposed insurance industry mergers.
Thank you for all that you do.
Best regards,
Mike Volz, MD, President
Allergy/Immunology
