Health care bill falters late; CARE Act passes with MMS-backed provisions

What’s up in advocacy and policy

Session wrap-up: Health care bill falters late

Great News! The final hours of this legislative session took a favorable turn for physicians of Massachusetts, as the House and Senate failed to reach a compromise on the health care bill that they have been working on for the past several months. The two branches took fundamentally different approaches in their 100-plus-page bills, and were not able to reconcile them in time for the end of the session. 

This means that several controversial provisions opposed by the MMS did not move forward, including:

• An unfavorable out-of-network billing proposal
• Prohibitively high tax on ambulatory surgery centers and other outpatient providers of surgical and diagnostic care
• Concerning expansions to the scope of practice of nurse practitioners, CRNAs, optometrists, and podiatrists
• The creation – and taxation - of a new category of office-based surgery centers
• Significant increase in physician licensure fees and administrative burdens for physicians offices 

We thank our members for their swift and impactful response to our Legislative Alerts. Your actions helped fuel our success! House and Senate leadership have expressed their intention to take up these bills again in January, and we will continue our staunch advocacy on behalf of patients and physicians as we work with both branches on this legislation in the future.

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CARE Act bill passes with several MMS-backed provisions

Governor Charlie Baker’s opioid bill, the CARE Act, was passed by the House and Senate and is on his desk to be signed. The MMS strongly supports the bill, which includes several provisions that we have long advocated for. The bill will strengthen the statewide standing order for naloxone. It also includes two proposals originally proposed by the MMS: the partial fill of prescription opioids, and the establishment of and funding for an innovative peer-to-peer physician education program for the care of patients with substance use disorder and patients with pain. We also support provisions requiring that all three forms of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) will be offered in jails and prisons, through a pilot program. We would have preferred to see full statewide availability of MAT in jails and prisons, but are very pleased with this development. In the same vein, the compromise bill includes a study of the feasibility of Supervised Injection Facilities in the Commonwealth.  

The MMS has, of course, already conducted such a study, which culminated in our SIF report, and we would have preferred stronger language allowing DPH to promulgate regulations establishing a pilot SIF, but we see this study as a promising development, particularly as Massachusetts is the first state to establish such legislation.

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Reminders: Stuff you should click on

Casual networking events coming to your area!
Please join your colleagues and friends for one of our upcoming networking events. Physicians (members and nonmembers) and your guests are welcome.

Upcoming events:

• October 24, 6:30–8:30 p.m., Hotel on North, Pittsfield
• Springfield, Peabody and Fall River; check future emails for details 

Please reply to  sfrazier@mms.org or  mjussaume@mms.org.  The MMS plans to bring fun, convenient, and casual networking events to all parts of the state. Connect with physicians from across organizations and specialties, make new professional contacts, and meet MMS leaders. Questions? Call (800) 944 5562.
 
Photo: Splatter Painted Boat by Arthur T. Skarin, MD, Norfolk district

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Join our AMA Delegation - Deadline is this month

The MMS Committee on Nominations is seeking candidates for nomination to the Massachusetts AMA Delegation. Visit www.massmed.org/amanoms to learn more about the qualifications and submit your application. The application deadline is Monday, August 20.  

Interviews with the Committee on Nominations will be held at MMS Headquarters, Waltham, on Thursday, September 20, 2018, 4:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m. Applicants should plan to be available on this date. Questions? Please contact Linda Healy (800) 322-2303, ext. 7008 or lhealy@mms.org, or Karen Harrison at ext. 7463 or kharrison@mms.org.

Claims: Are you having problems getting reimbursed?

Looking for an efficient way to resolve unpaid insurance claims? The MMS is hosting three Individual Claims Consultation days this summer and fall. These are opportunities for you and/or your practice colleague to meet with representatives from insurance companies to troubleshoot specific claims. The events will be held in Waltham (Aug 16) and Lakeville (Sept 20). Click below.

Read and register

MA Dept. of Public Health issues “Returning to School After Concussion: Guidelines for Massachusetts Schools” 

The Mass. Department of Public Health convened a group of medical professionals, athletic trainers and brain injury prevention advocates to develop guidelines and tools for use by teachers, school counselors, and parents as they support students in the process of returning to the classroom after concussion. The guide contains information about concussion identification, graduated reentry plans, and recommended activities and accommodations in the classroom. Pediatricians and family physicians may find this booklet particularly useful to provide to parents when their child is recovering from concussion. Free copies are available from the Massachusetts Health Promotion Clearinghouse or the booklet and accompanying templates in the booklet can be downloaded.  

Educational programs and events

Live events: Leadership development

Managing Workplace Conflict: Improving Leadership & Personal Effectiveness
Thurs. & Fri., November 1–2    

The Heller School’s Executive MBA for Physicians (EMBA)
January 2019 – May 2020: 25% discount for MMS members 
Brandeis University, Heller School of Social Policy and Management

More live CME

Featured online CME: End-of-Life Care Series

Module 1: Ethics and End-of-Life

Module 2: Communication and Conflict

Module 3: Advance Care Planning

More online CME

Quote of the week

"It is not valid, however, to tear families apart in these situations. It is immoral — beneath the dignity of this great democracy."

—   Jorge Piedra, President, Cuban-American Bar Association, on separating families  ( Miami Herald)

Tweet of the Week

@SenJasonLewis 
#5thMiddlesex Senator:  #Malden,  #Melrose,  #Reading,  #Stoneham,  #Wakefield, and precincts 1, 2, 3 & 8 of  #Winchester

What’s new in health care

Check out the most clicked-on stories from this week's MMS Media Watch. Sign up for daily Massachusetts media roundups by email. Some publications are fully accessible only to their subscribers.

Freak accident at Lowell General leaves man with broken facial bone (Lowell Sun)

As the patient was lying down for the scan on June 16, the magnet attracted the metal-containing hamper, drawing it toward the machine. The hamper flew up and struck the side of the man's head, causing a fracture of the orbital bone by the eyebrow. 

St. Vincent/MetroWest Medical CEO to depart  (Worcester Business Journal)

Jeffrey Welch is departing Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MetroWest Medical and other affiliates little more than one year after becoming CEO for Tenet Healthcare's area hospitals. Welch said Monday he will be leaving to oversee Tenet hospitals in the Miami area, about 14 months after he joined Saint Vincent and the others. 

Legislators reach deal on opioids, not on health care  (Boston Globe)

The bill includes a three-year pilot that would provide addiction treatment medications to some inmates starting in September 2019. Currently, when people addicted to opioids are incarcerated in Massachusetts, they are forced into withdrawal and then denied access to the main medications used to treat opioid addiction.

Fallon Health elects new chairman  (Worcester Business Journal)

Fallon Health has re-appointed three new directors and elevated an existing board member as its new chairman. The new chairman is Frederick Misilo, an attorney at the Worcester law firm Fletcher Tilton and a Fallon board member since 2012. He replaces David Hillis, CEO of AdCare Hospital of Worcester.

Man's legs amputated after dog's licks lead to infection (AP)

A Wisconsin man has lost both of his legs to a virulent infection after being licked by a dog, according to local reports. Earlier this summer, Greg Manteufel contracted Capnocytophaga canimorsus, a bacteria found in dog saliva that can cause sepsis, his family says. In just a few days, the bacteria spread and Manteufel was fighting for his life.