2014 August CSA President’s Membership Update Murray Willis, MD, President Your CSA board members have been working on a number of issues that impact the practice of anesthesia. The following is an update on the progress: 1. CSA Legislative Agenda Our top priority is addressing Medicaid payment inequity and the expansion of the program under the Affordable Care Act. We have approached this issue from several angles. The CSA brought together representatives from the various specialty societies and have been meeting with the leadership of the Medicaid department. We have advocated for the need to increase reimbursement for Medicaid cases. Close to 200,000 additional patients have been added to the Medicaid system. It is no longer medical care coverage for just the indigent population. In addition, we presented Perioperative Surgical Home as a concept that could significantly reduce costs and increase care if the reimbursement rate is increased. This allows us to put in place the infrastructure needed to administer the management of these patients. The other approach that we have taken involves meeting with leadership of the legislature and executive branch of government. In these meetings we have presented our arguments for increasing the Medicaid conversion factor. Many of our points are similar to the ones that are made with regard to the low reimbursement under Medicare. Our intent is to work with the Joint Budget committee of the state legislature to get money allocated specifically for anesthesia services provided through Medicaid. 2. CSA Political Action Committee (PAC) Donation Campaign As you can see from our legislative agenda, we have an ambitious plan that will involve identifying key legislators who will be supportive of our efforts. Since this is an election year legislators are in full fund raising mode. Therefore we are launching a campaign to solicit donations to the CSA PAC from the membership. Please consider the following points: • Much of the health care policy is now being determined by the legislative and regulatory process. • Reimbursement and methods of reimbursement will be dictated by these legislative and regulatory processes • CSA has a Political Action Committee made up of four CSA members • The CSA PAC is advised by Edie Busam, our long time lobbyist • The CSA PAC members will determine which candidate to support and how much to contribute to each. The CSA is taking a bipartisan approach to this process • Contributing to a candidate is not "buying their vote," it simply provides us with the opportunity to gain the legislator's undivided attention thereby allowing us to present our position. • The CSA has a proven track record of legislative success. We were able to pass the Anesthesiologist Assistant licensure bill on the first attempt, something which is very rare • If the CSA does not advocate for its members, on the issues that are of importance to our profession, we will be left out of the discussion. • • • • • • Legislators are dealing with many competing interests and limited resources. They allocate the budget dollars based on the input that they receive from various constituents. The maximum contribution to the CSA PAC is $550. For the Small Donor Committee, contribution is $50. Members can contribute to either of these funds or both. The amount of the contribution represents a fraction of a percentage point of our annual income. 100% of the anesthesia residents at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have contributed to the ASA PAC The AANA, the CRNA national professional society, raises more in PAC contributions than the ASA PAC. Any amount is appreciated and helpful PAC contributions are an investment in the future of your career and the profession of anesthesia. The CSA website, www.csa-‐online.org has instructions for making contributions as well as a template for a payroll deduction form that can be used by your payroll department. 3. Nurse Physician Advisory Task Force for Colorado Healthcare (NPATCH) The leadership of the CSA is involved with NPATCH. NPATCH is considering nurse scope of practice issues. In particular, it is considering the rules governing nurse’s prescriptive authority. We will continue to provide our perspective on this difficult and complex issue. 4. CSA Website We continue to update the website and are working on providing more content. There is a link to the ASA Anesthesia Quality Institute and technical support. We are also working on adding educational information such as closed claims case studies. Check it out. 5. ASA Annual Meeting A number of the CSA leadership will be attending the ASA annual meeting to represent our interests at the House of Delegates meeting. We will represent the interests of the membership at this important policy setting meeting. This is also an opportunity to learn about the policy goals of the ASA and other issues of importance on the national level. This includes the proposed VA Nursing Handbook, which would greatly expand the scope of practice for CRNAs. 6. CSA Annual Meeting Save the Date: April 25-‐26 2015, The Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs.
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