AAFP EVP Douglas Henley, M.D., met with key House and Senate staff July 14 and 15, continuing the many visits to federal lawmakers and their staff AAFP leaders have made this year.
Henley met with staff for Sens. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to discuss the "Better Healthcare Through Information Technology Act," S. 1355. He also met with Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Max Baucus, D-Mont., about the "Medicare Value Purchasing Act of 2005," S. 1356, which has drawn some concern from the Academy, as reported in a previous AAFP News Now story.
Henley also discussed the "Health Technology to Enhance Quality Act," S. 1262, with staff for Sens. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. The bill would launch pilot pay-for-performance initiatives and provide grants for secure, interoperable regional EHR systems. In addition, Henley met with staff for Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., who is expected to introduce legislation addressing the sustainable growth rate formula that now establishes Medicare payments for physicians.
Johnson, who is chair of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, has scheduled a July 21 hearing on physician payment and related issues. Without a change in the formula, Medicare payments to physicians would drop by 4.3 percent in 2006 and would decline by similar amounts in succeeding years through 2012.
