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The Department of Public Policy and Advocacy directs the state legislative and lobbying efforts of the Iowa Medical Society. We are responsible for the coordination and development of policy positions, grassroots advocacy campaigns and legislative updates, including the IMS Advocate.
Congressman Bruce Braley has been a strong supporter of IMS in our advocacy for geographic equity in physician payments. Throughout the debates on health care, he supported the extension of the 1.0 floor on the Work Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI) through December 31, 2011, and the addition of...
The Iowa Medical Society AMA Delegation submitted six resolutions at the June AMA meeting in Chicago. Three resolutions were reaffirmed as current AMA policy, two were referred for further study and one was adopted as amended. Members of the IMS AMA Delegation are Carole Frier, DO, Des Moines; Janice...
IMS Past President Timothy Kresowik, MD, Iowa City, Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Waterloo) and IMS Board member Steven Jacobs, MD, Cedar Rapids, pose for a photo after Rep. Braley received a Special Presidential Citation from the Iowa Medical Society in recognition of his tireless work to restore geographic...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced new rules authorized by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which will help stop health care fraud. The provisions of the ACA implemented through this final rule include new provider screening and enforcement measures to help keep unscrupulous providers out of Medicare, Medicaid and the...
IMS Past President Michael Kitchell, MD, Ames, testified during the week of January 17 in Washington, D.C. before the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee on Geographic Variation in Health Care Spending and Promotion of High-Value Care. The committee, as directed by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius,...
Senator Chuck Grassley has supplied a statement (PDF 88KB) to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) regarding their study of the accuracy of the geographic adjustment factors used for Medicare physician payment. For the last ten years, Grassley has lead congressional efforts to establish more accurate geographic...
On December 15, President Obama signed into law H.R. 4994, the “Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010,” which stabilizes Medicare physician payments through the end of 2011. The legislation also includes funds to enable Medicare contractors to reprocess claims for physician services...
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) launched its study on Medicare's geographic adjusters during a two-day session in Washington, DC. This first meeting was devoted to the receipt of testimony from invited participants, including Michael Kitchell, MD, Ames, testifying on behalf of the Iowa Medical Society...
Senator Charles Grassley recently sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in which he expressed significant concerns with the proposed rule for CY 2011 for the implementation of the statutory mandate to improve the accuracy of the Practice Expense Geographic Practice Cost...
Congressman Bruce Braley recently sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in which he expressed his disappointment with the proposed Medicare physician payment rule and its proposed GPCIs for Iowa physicians. Braley said the rule does little to enhance the credibility...
