MMA News
Physicians Spend a Day at the Capitol
About 50 physicians garbed in white coats braved a snowstorm to receive advocacy training and meet with their legislators as part of the Minnesota Medical Association’s (MMA) day at the Capitol, March 16.
Physicians spoke with lawmakers about this year’s top health care issues including a proposal to make Minnesota’s restaurants and bars smoke-free workplaces, winning payment rights for interpreter services, and making not wearing a seat belt a primary driving offense.
The MMA/MMAA Physician Legislative Advocacy Summit, as the day at the Capitol event was called this year, got underway at 9 a.m. at the Minnesota History Center. The St. Paul–based nonprofit Grassroots Solutions provided the physicians in attendance with tips and pointers for effective advocacy.
Physicians said they turned out because they believe doctors can’t solve the state’s health problems solely by practicing medicine.
Benjamin Pofahl, M.D., who specializes in family medicine at Camden Physicians in north Minneapolis, said the way to solve some of those problems is by changing public policy. For example, Pofahl planned to speak with his legislator about the proposed smoking ban.
“There are so many problems that we see in our clinic, but there is only so much we can do on a patient-by-patient basis,” said Pofahl, who also attended the event last year.
Yasmeen Khan, M.D., an anesthesiologist from Eagan, said other groups such as nurses and teachers advocate for themselves and that physicians need to do more to make sure their voices are heard. Her top issue was placing caps on economic damages in malpractice cases.
After the morning training, the group headed to the Capitol for a white coat rally where Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing), Sen. Sheila Kiscaden (DFL-Rochester), and Rep. Doug Meslow (R-White Bear Lake) addressed the crowd. From there, participants met with their senators and representatives and observed the House in session.
MMA President-Elect G. Richard Geier, M.D., advised physicians to not only attend MMA political events but also to get involved in the politics of their local communities by participating in candidates’ campaigns for school board and county and city office.
Getting to know a politician early in his or her career can often result in long-lasting relationships that will continue as they rise to higher offices, he says.
At the very minimum, he says, physicians should take advantage of Minnesota’s political contribution refund policy, whereby individuals can receive a $50 refund and married couples can receive a $100 refund for political contributions to a Minnesota political party, a candidate for state office, or a candidate for the Minnesota House or Senate. Geier said if MMA members took advantage of this policy, they could wield more than $10 million of political clout.
MMA to Create Billing Task Force
At its March meeting, the MMA Board of Trustees authorized the formation of a task force to study a controversy surrounding laboratory- billing practices at some clinics.
The practice in question is when physicians bill a patient or payer for reference lab services an amount that’s “marked up” from the discounted rate negotiated by the clinic and the reference lab.
Currently, clinics may subcontract with reference laboratories to perform certain laboratory services. These pathology labs, which are often large and located out of state, may offer clinics discounted prices. Clinics, which assume the cost and risk of billing, tend to bill the patient or payer at a rate above the price paid to the laboratory.
The Minnesota Society of Pathologists opposes this practice, contending that it is unethical and essentially an illegal form of fee splitting between Minnesota clinics and pathology groups that offer the discounts.
The Minnesota Society of Pathologists petitioned the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice to make an administrative rule prohibiting the practice. The board rejected that request. However, it asked the MMA to gather additional information and physician input about the topic while it decides what action to take.
Since January, the MMA has been studying the matter and has heard from dozens of physicians.
Given the importance of the issue and the significant impact that changes in the practice could have on Minnesota clinics, the MMA Board of Trustees concluded that greater understanding of the issue and direct discussions between pathologists and nonpathologists were critical. The Laboratory Billing Task Force will submit its report to the MMA Board of Trustees in May.
MMA Launches Health Care Reform Partnership
The MMA has brought together a number of the state’s most influential health care leaders to reform Minnesota’s health care system.
On March 8, the 26-member steering committee of Healthy Minnesota: A Partnership for Reform, which includes leaders in health care, business, state government, labor, education, and consumer advocacy, met for the first time in St. Paul.
The partnership will use the MMA’s health care reform plan, Physicians’ Plan for a Healthy Minnesota, as its starting point for discussion, but it will ultimately make its own recommendations.
“Our plan was visionary, but now we need to get down to some specifics, and the best way to do that is to get these movers and shakers on board and involved,” said Michael Ainslie, chair of the MMA board of trustees.
The partnership’s steering committee will form workgroups that will focus on public health, insurance reform, market reform, and provision of high-quality care.
The goal is to have a set of reform strategies developed in time for the 2007 legislative session. The partnership will also consider marketplace changes that members can voluntarily implement.