News in brief - April 26, 2004

Order flu vaccine now - Iowa tort reform bill passes - Georgia Legislature adjourns without tort reform - Ohio passes liability insurance market backup plan - Congressmen push for changes in physician pay formula

Order flu vaccine now

Physicians should begin to order supplies of influenza vaccine immediately to ensure availability early this fall, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. Last year, a huge demand for the vaccine in October led to shortages.

Medicare reimbursement for flu vaccine will continue to be 95% of the average wholesale price.

Iowa tort reform bill passes

A bill proposing a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits is headed to the Iowa governor's desk. The Iowa Senate passed the measure by a 27-21 vote April 12. The House had already passed legislation including the cap.

Georgia Legislature adjourns without tort reform

Georgia's legislative session ended without achieving tort reform. At press time, the Medical Assn. of Georgia was calling for the topic to be added to a special session.

The Georgia Senate and House passed bills addressing tort reform, but a conference committee was unable to reach a compromise before the 40-day legislative session ended.

Ohio passes liability insurance market backup plan

A new Ohio law lays the groundwork for the state insurance director to establish a safety net in case the medical liability insurance market collapses.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft signed the bill into law April 12. It allows for a Medical Liability Underwriting Assn. to provide physicians with primary insurance coverage if the already ailing market worsens, said Ohio State Medical Assn. President William C. Sternfeld, MD. The bill transfers $12 million from the now-defunct Ohio Joint Underwriting Assn. to fund a new underwriting association or any other medical liability insurance initiatives that the Ohio Legislature passes. The old underwriting association became inactive in 1980 but has had to keep reserves for any outstanding claims.

Congressmen push for changes in physician pay formula

Two lawmakers have asked for the Bush administration's help in increasing Medicare payments to physicians over the next decade. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Reps. Bill Thomas (R, Calif.) and Nancy Johnson (R, Conn.) asked CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, MD, PhD to change the way the agency calculates annual physician payment updates to minimize, if not eliminate, expected payment cuts through 2013.

CMS has maintained it does not have the authority to make these changes. But physician groups are optimistic the new administrator may revisit that decision. Without changes to the formula, physician payment rates in 2014 could be 40% lower than those in 2005. The lawmakers asked CMS to remove drug spending from the calculation of physician spending, account for the cost of new benefits, review assumptions of physicians' response to pay cuts, and account for other factors impacting physician incomes.