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Dec. 20, 2015
Vol. 4, No. 67
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Medicare
Bonuses for Primary Care Expire Dec. 31
Primary care doctors who see a high volume of Medicare
patients need to brace themselves for a pay cut starting Jan. 1,
2016. A provision in the Affordable Care Act that provided Medicare
payment bonuses to primary care physicians is expiring on Dec. 31. That
means some Texas physicians will lose hundreds of thousands of
dollars with the extinction of the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) Primary Care Incentive Payment Program
(PCIP), which aimed to narrow the gap in Medicare payments between primary
care physicians and specialists.
To receive the quarterly incentive payments, which began
in 2011, physicians' primary care services (CPT codes 99201 through
99215 and 99304 through 99350) had to account for at least 60 percent
of their total allowed charges under the physician fee schedule in
the calendar year. Eligible physicians include those with a Medicare
specialty designation of family medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, and
internal medicine.
- See more at:
Click
here for more information.
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Our
sister city in India, Chennai, has been hit very hard by recent
flooding and the death toll is approaching 300.
The city has also suffered from more than $2 billion in
economic losses and is struggling to deal with more than a million
displaced people.
And yet, the spirit of Chennai has not been
extinguished. It is burning brighter than ever with neighbors rescuing
each other and strangers cooking food and distributing aid.
Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians are throwing
their temples, mosques, gurudwaras, and churches open to shelter the
displaced.
We want to salute this spirit of Chennai, our beloved
sister city, by tipping our hats and pledge to stand with them.
Here are some
facts about Chennai:
- Chennai is the 5th largest
city in India with a population of more than 8 million
- Industries: Automobile,
Petrochemical industries and refineries, Information
Technology, Healthcare, Education, Movie making, Arts and
culture, Tourism
- Chennai has a bustling
automobile industry and is referred to as "The Detroit of
India."
- Has been named the 2nd best
food city in the world by National Geographic.
- Has been named the 9th best
cosmopolitan city in the world by The Lonely Planet
- Chennai has 80.73% Hindus,
9.45% Muslims, 7.72% Christians, 0.06% Sikhs, 0.06%
Buddhists, 1.11% Jains, 0.83% living in peace and harmony
HATS
OFF CHENNAI- We salute your spirit!
Here
are ways that you can help:
Take
a photo of yourself as your tip your hat to Chennai and its people.
Post it on Facebook and nominate at least 5 of your friends to do the
same. Include this link with your post and ask your friends to make a
donation toward the Chennai relief efforts. Every penny counts and
Chennai needs our help!
Anuja
SA, PO Box 591801, San Antonio, TX 78259
Anuja
is 501 (C) {3} organization.
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Addressing
Child Abuse and Neglect in 2016
The Public Health and Patient
Advocacy Committee at BCMS is looking for
doctors who would like to volunteer their time to support efforts to
better address issues of child abuse and child neglect in Bexar and
the surrounding counties.
This adjunct committee would focus on researching the
issue, collecting data, looking at what is already being done
locally, what is being done elsewhere that has been effective and
then making recommendations to the full committee.
The PH&PA Committee meets on the first Wednesday of
every odd month at the BCMS offices. For more information or to
volunteer to participate please
contact committee liaison Mike Thomas at 210-582-6399.
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Has
the Cadillac tax hit a dead end?
Summary of article from Modern Healthcare:
By Shannon Muchmore | December 16,
2015
The delay of the tax on high-end insurance plans will
not have much of an immediate effect on healthcare economics or the
success of the Affordable Care Act, but if the tax continues to be
pushed off and is essentially dead, consequences loom large.
Congress announced the omnibus budget agreement and tax
extenders bill late Tuesday with a vote planned before the end of the
week. White House officials have indicated the president will sign
the package into law.
It includes delaying for two years implementation of the
"Cadillac" tax, which was scheduled to go into effect in
2018. It also freezes the medical-device tax that began in 2013 for
two years and delays the annual tax on health insurers by one year.
The Obama administration is one of the last defenders of the
so-called Cadillac tax, which has never been politically popular even
among those supporting the ACA. Several Democrats, including the top
contenders for the party's nominee for president next year, have come
out in favor of repealing it.
The Cadillac tax is 40% of the value of employer-sponsored plans that
exceed certain thresholds: $10,200 for individual coverage and
$27,500 for family coverage. An August report from the Kaiser
Family Foundation estimated that about a quarter of businesses
would be subject to the tax in its first year, increasing to 42% by
2028.
Employers have been scaling back medical coverage for years, shifting
more of the direct costs to workers and their families through higher
annual deductibles and cost-sharing. Increasingly, they have cited
the Cadillac tax as a factor.
Click
here for full article.
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A CIRCLE OF FRIENDS GOLD SPONSOR
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Gold-level
Circle of Friends sponsors contribute $5,000
or
more to BCMS annually.
Support
our sponsors; our sponsors support us!
Thank
you to our BCMS Circle of Friends sponsors! This information is sent
on behalf of a valued sponsor, but it is not an endorsement. Donations
from Circle of Friends sponsors help keep down the cost of dues and
allow BCMS to continue to provide quality service to its members. The
society continues its pledge to you and only will involve itself in
services and programs that benefit you, the member, and your patient.
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Bexar County
Medical Society
6243 I-10 West,
Suite 600
San Antonio, TX
78201
210-301-4391
www.bcms.org
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Weekly Dose is a service of the
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Some
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today,
but
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Copyright
© 2015 Bexar County Medical Society, San Antonio, Texas.
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