MMA News
MMA Board Considers Driver Safety
The MMA Board of Trustees took a stand against having more stringent driving tests for seniors at its July meeting, calling instead for more education of physicians on how to assess at-risk drivers.
The board voted not to adopt a resolution that was referred to it by the 2006 MMA House of Delegates calling on the MMA to support efforts to require Minnesota drivers age 70 or older to renew their driver’s license in person instead of by mail, drivers age 75 and older to take a driving test every third year, and those age 80 or older to pass an annual driving test.
The board also voted not to adopt a resolution calling for the MMA to support legislation requiring all drivers to take a written test each time they renew their license.
Instead, the board voted in favor of educating physicians on how to report at-risk drivers of all ages and how to counsel patients on the wisdom of hanging up the keys.
According to information from the Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS), a division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, the state has procedures in place for reporting seniors and other drivers who may be unsafe behind the wheel. Family members and physicians can report suspect drivers by sending a letter to the DVS. The state then sends those drivers a letter saying they must be evaluated or they will lose their license. A DVS employee then evaluates the driver and may request further testing by a physician. Physicians have the power to declare drivers unfit. The DVS would ultimately revoke a person’s license, if that is what a physician recommends.
Minnesota physicians can refer patients needing driving evaluations to programs such as Drive Safe Inc. in Oakdale and Courage Center in Golden Valley. Instructors in these programs give seniors a road test and assess their cognitive and physical abilities, then report back to the
physician.
Information about reporting at-risk drivers is available at www.dps.state.mn.us/DVS/AtRisk/AtRiskset.htm.
MMA Board Takes Issue with UHC Policy
The MMA Board of Trustees has expressed concern about the laboratory referral policy of Minnetonka-based UnitedHealthcare (UHC), which became effective March 1, 2007.
The policy requires physicians to refer laboratory services to a lab within the UHC network or risk a $50 fine or expulsion from UHC’s physician network.
As a for-profit company, UnitedHealthcare does not insure in Minnesota. However, the MMA board felt it was important to weigh in on the issue.
The board said in a statement that high-quality, accessible laboratory services are essential to proper patient care and that UHC’s policy might impede access to such services. For example, the policy could hinder a physician’s ability to select the most appropriate lab service for a patient, the board said.
The board also said in its statement that UHC should not penalize physicians when patients independently obtain laboratory services from non-network providers.
House, Senate Consider Medicare Payment Fix
Before leaving Washington, D.C., at the start of August, the House of Representatives passed a measure that would prevent Medicare physician pay cuts for the next two years. Senators left town without addressing the issue.
The House’s proposed pay increase, 0.5 percent a year for two years, was part of its legislation to reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The House bill, which passed August 1, would fund the pay increase in part by reducing the subsidies that health plans receive for offering Medicare Advantage plans.
The next day, the Senate passed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, which would renew and boost SCHIP funding but would not stop the 10 percent cut in physician pay rates scheduled for 2008. Both bills would fund an expanded SCHIP program by increasing the federal cigarette tax.
President Bush has threatened to veto both the Senate and House plans to expand the SCHIP program. When Congress reconvenes in September, a conference committee will try to craft a compromise bill. Funding for SCHIP expires September 30. “We would hope that the House version would prevail, but with President Bush opposing an SCHIP expansion and the Senate trying to pass an SCHIP-only measure, the physician-pay piece could get lost,” says Dave Renner, the MMA’s director of federal and state legislation.
If the physician-pay piece doesn’t make it out of the conference committee, Congress will likely decide the issue during Medicare budget negotiations that usually drag on into December, Renner says. “If that happens, we’ll need members to keep the pressure on our delegation to fix the payment problem before they adjourn for the year."
Claim Your Share
The MMA is asking physicians to consider donating settlement dollars from a class action lawsuit to the MMA Foundation, the charitable arm of the MMA, formerly known as the Minnesota Physicians Foundation. The MMA Foundation funds medical school scholarships and supports efforts to advise physicians about quality care and strengthen rural medicine.
The class action—Love et al. versus Blue Cross Blue Shield Association et al.—was filed in 2003 in U.S. District Court in Miami. In April 2007, Blue Cross resolved the suit for approximately $130 million, $6 million in Minnesota. The settlement resolved disagreements with physicians regarding claims payment and other business practices. Physicians who billed Blue Cross between 1997 and 2006 can take a pay-out personally or donate it.
To donate your portion of the settlement, complete a short claim form from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Go to Section D on the form and check the box to donate your share to an eligible organization. Indicate #19 as the charitable organization. Forms must be postmarked by October 19, 2007.
If you have questions, contact the foundation’s director of development, Dennis Kelly, at 612/362-3767 or dkelley@mnmed.org.