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TOA
Executive Director's Update |
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By Donna Parker, MD
TOA Executive Director
You
may have seen this article listed in the AAOS Communication
E-mail entitled "Physicians bristle at penalties based on
patient behavior".
According
to the Associated Press, UnitedHealth Group, Inc. has told
physicians that, as of March 1, 2007, they may be fined or
receive
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reduced
reimbursement if their patients choose to use out-of-network labs.
Doctors state that the new laboratory network hired
by UnitedHealth is too small, with many geographic gaps that will force
patients to make an alternate choice. Furthermore, the physicians
disagree with the notion of being penalized for patient behavior over
which they have no control. A spokesperson for UnitedHealth responds
that the policy is intended not to punish, but to remind doctors to
support the in-network labs, and calls the implementation of fines
"highly unlikely." For more information click
here.
TMA has spoken to United regarding this policy only to find they are not
backing down. TDI is being sent a complaint regarding this issue which
will reference the TDI preferred provided plan laws and rules for
insured plans. Physicians and patients who have problems using a
contracting in-net work lab, should be encouraged to contact TMA Legal
Counsel, Lee Spangler or Rocky Wilcox.
Remember to send TOA
a copy of this complaint and feel free to list any other insurance
complaints you may have. We need to keep an eye on actions like this.
TOA can survey our members for specific insurance carrier industry
problems and bring these issues to light.
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Texas
District By District: Sylvester Turner |
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Sylvester Turner was born in Houston in 1954, the sixth of
nine children. He was raised by his father, a commercial
painter and his mother, a maid at the Rice Hotel.
Turner showed promise at a young age, being elected
president of his senior class and earning the distinction of
valedictorian as a student at Klein High School. He
continued to build his record of accomplishment at the
University of Houston where he was Speaker of the Student
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and
went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude. In 1980 he received his
J.D. from Harvard Law School where he was a finalist in the
Ames Moot Court Competition.
He
is committed to several civic and educational causes and has
been involved with organizations such as the United Negro
College Fund, the Acres Home Citizens Chamber of Commerce,
the Coalition for School Improvement and the Board of the
American Cancer Society.
Turner began his service in the Legislature in 1988 and ran
for Mayor of Houston in 1991.
At
the beginning of the 78th legislature, Representative Turner
was named Speaker Pro Tempore by the Republican Speaker of
the House. This position, the second most powerful in the
House, enables him to continue his work on reformative
issues concerning education, health care, human services,
consumers rights and juvenile justice while working to build
broad coalitions that represent all Texans.
Turner currently serves as the Chairman of Budget and
Oversight of the Regulated Industries Committee and as a
member of the Calendars Committee and the Appropriations
Committee. Representative Turner also serves on the
Telecommunications Competitiveness Legislative Oversight
Committee, the Texas Emancipation Juneteenth Cultural and
Historical Commission, and as Chairman for the Texas 150
Committee/Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Representative Turner has made a career of taking a stand on
policies and issues which affect the common citizen. His
compassionate insight has raised issue awareness and evoked
the praise and admiration of his colleagues in the
legislature from all over the state and all over the
political spectrum.
Representative Turner was named one of ten among "The Best
of the Legislature" of the 77th session by Hispanic Journal
and he was honored for the second time in 2001 by the Texas
Classroom Teachers as a "Legislative Star" for his work in
leading the fight for students and teachers. He has been
honored with the 1995 "Star of Texas Award" from Common
Cause of Texas and the 1999 "Open Government Award" from the
Texas Daily Newspaper Association and the Texas Press
Association for his efforts in supporting open government.
In 1995, Turner was honored as "the conscience of the 74th
Legislature" by the Texas Legislative Study Group, he
received the Sierra Club’s "State Legislative Award" for
work on environmental issues, and the Texas House of
Representatives "Crime Fighter of the Year Award" from the
Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas. And most
recently in January 2006, Representative Turner was awarded
with the "Star of Justice Award" from the Houston Bar
Foundation and the "Public Servant Award" from Planned
Parenthood.
He
is a member of Brookhollow Baptist Church, and the proud
father of Ashley Paige Turner.
Email
Sylvester Turner to thank him for his work.
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This Week In Texas: Mignon
McGarry Memos |
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By Mignon McGarry
TOA Legislative Advocate / Memos: Fri Mar. 2 & Tue
Feb. 27, 2007
TOA Online Version: All Memos
March 2, 2007,
Friday:
Allegations of sexual
misconduct with children confined in Texas Youth Commission
facilities (corrections facilities for juvenile offenders)
have
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set state officials on fire. The
Senate Criminal Justice Committee
held an emotional hearing Tuesday. On Wednesday Governor Perry
replaced the Chairman of the TYC Board and the entire Senate
reconvened at 6 PM that night to unanimously pass a resolution
calling for the appointment of a conservator for TYC as well
as a meeting of the Legislative Audit Committee to discuss
appointment of a conservator.
Yesterday the Senate Transportation &
Homeland Security committee held a day long contentious public
hearing on the Trans-Texas Corridor. The project is a $184
billion 4,000-mile network of toll roads, rail lines and
utilities. Angry landowners vented against the proposal and
the senators grilled the Chairman of the Transportation
Commission about negotiations with private developers on the
project.
Other general bills of interest filed
yesterday include;
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Sen. Jane
Nelson (R-Lewisville) introduced the first of a package of
Medicaid reform bills, this one provides incentives for
smoking cessation and authorizes co-pays for non-emergency
visits to hospital emergency rooms
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Sen. Shapiro (R- Laredo) and Rep. Rob
Eissler (R-Woodlands) introduced education proposals that
would replace the state’s standardized test with end of
course exams. That issue will take up some oxygen in the
coming weeks.
To end on an interesting note, Sen. Dan
Patrick (R-Houston) introduced a bill that’s being dubbed the
Hurricane Sales Tax Holiday proposing a three day sales tax
holiday in June, to help people prepare for the summer
hurricane season. Items exempted would include batteries,
flashlights, barbeque grills etc…
Happy Texas Independence Day!
February
27, 2007, Tuesday
The pressure is building with only eight more working days
to file bills. Although the Senate often suspends their rules to
allow late bills to be filed, the House strictly observes the
March 9 deadline. Expect a flurry of bills to be filed the rest
of this week and next.
Every session the information flow gets better (remember when
the FAX ruled?) last week the House began posting copies of
bills and proposed amendments on the state
website
during floor debates.
Live video of floor debates has been available online since
2001, but they can be a little hard to follow if you can’t see
the document under discussion. The Senate will continue to
distribute only paper copies of floor amendments but that will
change by the 2009 session.
The House is also posting record votes online within the hour
(Senate record votes get posted by the end of the day
generally).
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Heart
Association Publishes New Guidelines For Prescribing NSAIDS |
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The
American Heart Association (AHA) has published a scientific
statement with new guidelines for the administration of pain
relievers, based on accumulated evidence that many
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increase the
risk of heart attack and
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stroke.
According to AHA, recent meta-analysis shows that COX-2 selective NSAIDs seem to
increase the risk of heart attack by 86 percent compared to
placebo. For this reason, AHA advises physicians to first address
chronic pain with non-pharmacologic treatments such as physical
therapy and exercise, then to consider a stepped pharmaceutical
approach. Such an approach would begin with aspirin or short-term
narcotic analgesics, then progress to the least selective COX-2
inhibitors, and finally move to the most selective COX-2 inhibitors
only if needed.
For more
information click
here. A
PDF file of the complete scientific statement can be downloaded
here.
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TOA 2007 Annual Meeting Guest Speaker - Bernard
F. Morrey, MD |
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We are pleased to announce our
2007 Guest Speaker for the TOA Annual Meeting will be
Bernard F. Morrey, MD, Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mayo
Clinic. Dr. Morrey has served as president of many
orthopaedic societies such as AAOS, AOA, and ASES. He
is a well known author of orthopaedic medical reference
books and articles. An hour long presentation entitled "The
Elbow" will be delivered by Dr. Morrey on Saturday
afternoon, May 12th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin.
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The program for the scientific
session is being finalized and will be mailed at the end of
the week, so you should receive this registration piece
soon. Next week's E-Connect will also provide an electronic
version of the 2007 Annual Meeting program with a
registration form members can return by fax or mail.
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