July 13, 2016
CMS member outreach on ColoradoCare pro/cons
Colorado faces an important vote this November about the future of the state's health care system. Physicians will not only need to understand what the proposed constitutional amendment on ColoradoCare means for the profession, they must also be prepared to answer questions about Amendment 69 from their patients.

That's why Colorado Medical Society (CMS) formed a special advisory committee of your peers to develop educational documents you can use to evaluate ColoradoCare. The documents are not intended to be all encompassing, but rather the consensus of 35 physicians from across the state from different specialties, practice types, practice settings, ages and philosophical views regarding health care reform.

Your perspectives on ColoradoCare matter because if the constitutional amendment passes it will dramatically change health care financing and delivery in Colorado. On behalf of the more than 7,300 physician members of CMS, I strongly encourage you to make time to review this information carefully. In about four weeks you will put your new knowledge to work by sharing your insights and opinions on ColoradoCare in a CMS online survey. Results from the survey will be used to inform the official position that CMS takes on this initiative.

Information you need
ColoradoCare would create a new system where every resident has health care coverage financed by taxes instead of private insurance premiums. It would replace most other health insurance in the state except for Medicare and Veterans Administration coverage.

Over the last four months the CMS Special Advisory Committee on ColoradoCare has carefully developed pro/con analyses of Amendment 69 and the current multi-payer system. Find the analyses here.

Should you have any questions and to be well informed, please also consider reviewing: Stay engaged
Thank you for carefully reviewing the CMS pro/con analyses and other information on ColoradoCare. Importantly, thank you in advance for completing the online survey in a few weeks on ColoradoCare and the current multi-payer system so that CMS can carefully consider next steps for our continued work to make Colorado the best place to provide and receive health care. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Michael Volz, MD
President
Attention Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid Program) and CHP+ Providers!
Coming soon! Big changes to the Provider Portal, MMIS, and PBMS

As part of the Colorado Medicaid Management Innovation and Transformation (COMMIT) project, the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing will be launching several new provider-facing systems on Oct. 31, 2016.

Two of these new systems will affect the way providers submit claims and receive payments. These are the Colorado interChange (a new claims processing and eligibility verification system) and the Pharmacy Benefits Management System (a new pharmacy point of sale system).

Over the next several months, the Department will be working to inform and prepare Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid program) and CHP+ providers for these changes. In addition to the updates mentioned below, the Department will also be hosting a series of live webinars to answer any questions you may have. Both webinar and training schedules will be released late July 2016.

How can providers prepare for these changes?
Providers who have not begun the enrollment/revalidation process by Aug. 1, 2016 put themselves at serious risk for delayed payments, as the process may take several weeks. Visit the Department's Provider Resources page for more information about revalidation or enrollment.

Get tailored updates that matter to you!
Sign-up for this email distribution list today, and you will receive training schedules and other important information specific to your provider type or business, straight to your email inbox.

As physicians, you should (at a minimum) check the following "provider type" boxes when signing up for the email distribution list:

  • Clinic - Practitioner
  • Physician
Other ways to stay informed
The Department will keep you informed and help prepare you for the coming changes. Look for general information, training schedules, and updates to be posted in the Provider Bulletins, At a Glance, and on the Department's website.
AMA opposes VA proposed rule; physicians can submit comments until July 25

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is considering a proposal to give advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse anesthetists, independent practice within the VA system. The proposed rule was published to the Federal Register on May 25 and would remove physician anesthesiologists from veterans' care by only requiring that nurses oversee the process.

The American Medical Association voted at their annual meeting to oppose this action. The 60-day comment period for the rule ends July 25, 2016. Physicians can submit comments online at www.SafeVACare.org. After completing the contact information on the right, click Submit. Comments are automatically submitted to the Federal Register.

Click here to view a fact sheet from the American Society of Anesthesiologists on various studies of anesthesia professionals.

Click here to read the full proposed rule.

Register for the 2016 CMS Annual Meeting

Join your colleagues at the re-engineered CMS Annual Meeting in Keystone Sept. 16-18 as we engage some of the top health care policy and political experts in the nation on issues such as universal health care, physician-assisted death, Medicare payment, physician burnout, health plan mega-mergers, politics, and more. We'll have plenty of time for rest, relaxation and rejuvenation, too, for attendees and their families. 

Healthy Transitions Colorado Symposium, Aug. 22-23 in Denver

A lot is happening in the world of payment reform. If you work in health care, your inbox is inevitably filled with tweets, newsletters and "Breaking News!" about VBPs, MIPS, MACRA, CJR, BCPI and a whole alphabet soup of others.

To address the onslaught of information and to really bring into focus what is happening right here in Colorado, Healthy Transitions Colorado is dedicating its August Symposium to payment reform.

Registration is now open. Click here to view the draft agenda.

Community Partners receive discounted registration fees! Your organization can sign up to be a community partner today.

For questions, please contact Miranda Meadow at [email protected].

Sponsors
Get covered with COPIC

COPIC Insurance Company is Colorado's leading medical liability insurance provider. Three out of four physicians choose COPIC for this critically important coverage. CMS members receive a 10 percent premium discount from COPIC.

For more information, call (720) 858-6000 or visit www.callcopic.com.


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Our cloud-based compliance solution is discounted for all CMS members. Please contact us today for a demo! Call 888-54-FIRST or email [email protected]. Visit www.1sthcc.com/cms. White Papers - download the latest white papers; webinars - register for our complimentary webinar and receive CEU.
To comment on something you read in ASAP or to update your contact information, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Visit us online at www.cms.org.
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