October 5, 2009

ABC is very proud to be the sole sponsor of ASA’s Celebration of Advocacy, a major inaugural event that will take place on Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 pm at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

The Celebration of Advocacy will feature keynote speakers Tucker Carlson, contributor to FOX News and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, and Louisiana Congressman Bill Cassidy, M.D. There will be special presentations and a first screening of the ASA Advocacy Video. ASA has invited all members to this event, at which lunch will be provided.

Sponsoring the Celebration represents a new phase in ABC’s efforts to support the ASA’s advocacy efforts. ABC supports the ASA by:

• Keeping our own readers informed of the twists and turns of healthcare reform and of the major issues affecting anesthesiology, particularly those identified by ASA.
• Reinforcing the importance of ASA’s calls to action and encouraging anesthesiologists to become involved.
• Running campaigns, such as our two postcard campaigns, offering participants in the MGMA-Anesthesia Administration Assembly (AAA) electronic discussion group, as well as our clients and other Alert subscribers, pre-printed postcards for their anesthesiologists and their patients to mail to their Senators and Members of Congress. Thousands of postcards with federal legislators’ addresses were sent to anesthesia practices that responded to our offers.

We have taken on the role of staunch supporter of ASA’s advocacy efforts because this year it has become more important than ever for individual anesthesiologists, including our clients, to make their voices heard in Washington. With health care reform taking center stage in the House and Senate, it is essential that physicians be involved in the debate.

If a future public insurance option is to be based on Medicare payment rates, as proposed in several major legislative packages, the impact on this specialty and on the provision of anesthesia services – for which Medicare pays one-third of private insurance rates, while the average for all medical services is closer to four-fifths – will be devastating.

Just last week, the Senate Finance Committee considered two amendments containing a public option. Senator Jay Rockefeller’s amendment would have based provider payments under a public plan on Medicare rates. Both amendments were defeated by large majorities.

On September 24, ASA joined the American Medical Association and many other medical societies in urging House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to mandate negotiated payment rates in any healthcare reform legislation that includes a public plan, which the Speaker strongly supports (See http://www.asahq.org/Washington/Sign-onrenegotiatedratesinpublicplan_Pelosi.pdf.)

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid could include a government plan when he combines the Finance Committee's bill with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee legislation, approved in July, that includes a public option.

Thus anesthesiologists must stay informed and must stay in touch with their Senators and Representatives in Washington. As the sponsor of the event, we encourage all ASA members who will be in New Orleans on October 17th to learn more at the Celebration of Advocacy. For further information on the event, contact Sarah Byun at s.byun@asawash.org.

With best wishes,

Tony Mira
President and CEO