April 13, 2009
 

 
URGENT: Contact Your Representatives to Support Funding For the Extremities War Injury Project
  

Please contact your Representative to urge that they sign on to a "Dear Colleague" letter in support of funding for the "Peer-Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program" within the Department of Defense. Our Congressional champions only have a short window of time to have

other Members sign on so we request that you contact your Member of Congress or their defense staff persons by phone, faxed letter, or email via the Legislative Action Center by March 27 if possible and no later than April 13.

As U.S. military initiatives continue overseas, approximately 82 percent of war injuries involve the extremities. These injuries are often multiple and severe with the majority caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) as well as various high velocity assault weapons.

Given the current conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a growing demand for increased medical research focused on veterans with multiple severely injured extremities. Now, more than ever, the medical and military community needs the ability to research innovative techniques to restore functionality and save injured extremities.

Through the Department of Defense (DOD) Peer-Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program, Congress can provide funding for this important research, in addition to other common military related musculoskeletal conditions. As the number of injured veterans continues to rise, AAOS is asking that Congress provide $150 million for Fiscal Year 2010. The Academy has been instrumental in working with Congress to create this important new research program.

Support this critical funding that will help change the lives of many of our brave men and women in uniform. Remember contact your Member of Congress or their defense staff persons by phone, faxed letter, or email via the Legislative Action Center by March 27 if possible and no later than April 13.

If you choose to fax or call your Representative's offices, please email Alanna Porter porter@aaos.org in the Academy's Washington office to let us know what action you have taken.
 [top] [back to e-card archive page]

  
  

Texas District By District: Carlos Uresti
     

Proverbs, 29:18
 "Where there is no vision, the people will perish,"

This is the personal credo of State Senator Carlos I. Uresti, a leader with a vision for Senate District 19 and the State of Texas. He envisions thriving communities, safe and healthy children, an educated workforce, and responsible growth. A lifelong resident of his district, he is deeply committed to the success of his constituents.

Senator Uresti represents more than 700,000 people in the largest geographical senate district in the contiguous 48 states. Senate District 19 spans a 23-county area stretching along the U.S.- Mexico border, from San Antonio to El Paso County. Covering 55,000 square miles, the district contains 62 school districts; spans two time zones; and is larger than 24 states and 25 countries.

Senator Uresti is a native Texan, born and raised in San Antonio. He is the youngest of eight children, including his twin brother Larry.

After graduating from McCollum High School, Senator Uresti enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves at the age of 18 as a Private First Class. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Teaching Certificate from St. Mary's University, and was then commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. Senator Uresti rose to the rank of Captain and earned the Navy Achievement Medal during his four years of active duty as a combat engineer. Since graduating from St. Mary's University School of Law in 1992, he has been in private practice in San Antonio, currently with the Uresti Law Firm.

Balancing career and family life is important to Senator Uresti. He raised his two sons, Michael and Carlos, Jr. in the same neighborhood in which he spent his formative years. Both Michael and Carlos Jr. graduated from McCollum High School and continued in their father's footsteps in their own way. Michael is a 2005 graduate of Texas A&M University-College Station and is currently attending law school at his father's Alma Mater, St. Mary's University. Senator Uresti became a grandpa on July 22, 2008 when Michael and his wife Jennifer welcomed their first baby, Benjamin Michael. Carlos Jr. graduated from McCollum in 2004 and followed his roots to the same military branch as his father. He is now a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and is attending college in San Antonio.

A 1997 special election to the Texas House of Representatives opened the door to state politics for Senator Uresti. He served in the House for nine years and was the chairman of the Committee on Human Services during the 78th Legislature and the Committee on Government Reform during the 79th Legislature.

 

Senator Uresti was elected to the Texas Senate in 2006, riding on his reputation as a champion of children, seniors, and veterans. During nearly a decade of public service, Uresti has authored, co-authored and sponsored numerous bills during both his House and Senate careers, including listed below are just a few of those bill that provided:

  • Landmark reforms of the Child Protective Services (CPS) and Adult Protective Services (APS);

  • A ban on clinical medical trials involving foster children or children in the juvenile
    justice system;

  • The statewide establishment of the Nurse-Family Partnership program for child abuse prevention;

  • The expansion of pre-Kindergarten funding for children of active duty military personnel in Texas;

  • The establishment of the Silver Alert system, modeled after the successful Amber Alert, to spread notice of missing elderly persons;

  • Authorization and funding for the Texas A&M University at San Antonio;

  • Economic development authority for military installations affected by Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC);

  • Economic incentives to attract industrial and manufacturing growth to San Antonio,
    including Toyota and Boeing;

  • Regulatory oversight of the state's guardianship system;

  • Bulk purchasing authority for discounted, State-purchased prescription medications; and

  • The privacy of veterans' service records following their discharge from the military.

Currently, Senator Uresti is co-chair of the Bexar Metropolitan Water District Legislative Oversight Committee, and is vice chair of the Senate Committee on Administration. He sits on the following Committees: Health and Human Services; International Relations and Trade, and Natural Resources; the Subcommittees on Agricultural, Rural Affairs, and Coastal Resources; and Regional Water Quality Standards; and the Joint Committee on Oversight of the Edwards Aquifer. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst also appointed him to the National Conference of State Legislatures' standing Health Committee in 2007.

Devoted to fighting child abuse and neglect as the chair of House Committee on Health and Human Services, Senator Uresti led the charge to reform the Child Protective Services during the interim of the 78th Legislature, and brought statewide attention and major reform to protect our children from abuse and neglect. He continues to be a voice throughout Texas for the most vulnerable of our State.

Long active in his community, Senator Uresti is the Founding Chairman of the Blue Ribbon Task Force, a coalition bringing together hundreds of community activists and leaders to fight the causes of child abuse and neglect. He also sits on the Board of Trustees for Communities-In-Schools of San Antonio, which is the nation's largest community-based dropout prevention organization. Senator Uresti is also a member of the Board of Trustees for Wings for Life, a residential facility for at-risk teen mothers and their children.

 

A fierce advocate for veterans, Senator Uresti formed the Bexar County Veterans' Coalition in 2006. He is a lifetime member of Veteran of Foreign Wars Manuel Alvarado Post 9186, a member of the United States Marine Corps League, the American Legion, and the Alamo Silver Wings Airborne Association. He has worked diligently to encourage economic development within Senate District 19, including the Toyota manufacturing plant, the revitalization of Brooks City-Base, the Port of San Antonio, and the Texas A&M University campus in South San Antonio. Senator Uresti is also a voting member of the San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board where is working to create a sustainable transportation infrastructure for the future of the region.

Senator Uresti has received numerous awards, including five Legislator of the Year awards for his efforts to combat child abuse. The American Cancer Society honored him with the Texas Advocacy Award for his legislative advocacy on cigarette taxation. He was recognized by Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for promoting justice for all.

For his work on reestablishing adequate funding for CHIP and children's Medicaid, and for his work toward increasing the number of medical residents and residency programs in Texas, the Texas Medical Association named Senator Uresti one of Texas Medicine's Best Legislators at their 2007 "Friends of Medicine" Awards Dinner.

Senator Uresti looks forward to the second session of his first Senate term, when he will continue his work on child protection, public and higher education, natural resources protection, economic development, and veterans affairs.

[top] [back to e-card archive page]

  
  

This Week In Texas: Mignon McGarry Memos

By Mignon McGarry
TOA Legislative Advocate
TOA Online Version: All Memos

 

April 9, 2009, Thursday

I just wanted to remind everyone that after today’s proceedings, both the House and the Senate will take their version of Spring Break.  No

committees will meet in the House or the Senate on Friday, April 10th or Monday, April 13th.  The House and Senate return for committee hearings and floor sessions on Tuesday, April 14th.  Enjoy the spring weather and be prepared for things to begin moving fast and furious next week.

 

April 8, 2009, Wednesday

As we head into the traditional Easter weekend break, committee in both the House and the Senate are holding lengthy meetings in an attempt to move more bills through the legislative process.  Both the House and Senate will take a break from floor sessions Friday and Monday.  At the request of the Speaker, the House will conclude their business early today in order to allow for members to celebrate Passover if they so choose.

With only 54 days left in the 81st Legislative Session, there remains much work to be done.  Just over 6300 House bills and resolutions have been filed yet only 1,308 (23%) have been voted out of a House committee.  May 11th, the119th legislative day, is the last day for House committees to report House bills and House joint resolutions.  House committees with the most pending legislation to be heard in the next 33 days are: Ways & Means (460 bills); Public Education (380 bills); Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence (275 bills); Transportation (272 bills); Public Health (262 bills).

Over in the Senate, just over 2600 Senate bills and joint resolutions have been filed and just over 500 of those have made it successfully through a Senate committee.  The Senate does not have a specific deadline for voting out Senate bills but one can assume it is close to the same date in order for a Senate bill to make it to a House committee for a hearing in time to meet the May 23rd deadline for House committees to report Senate bills and resolutions.

Do you have a question for your state senator or representative yet don't know who to call in their Capitol office?  The House Research Organization has published their biennial Legislative Staff Directory.  Click here to view the directory.
 [top] [back to e-card archive page]

 
     

AAOS Remains Involved in Health Care Reform
 

The AAOS continued its efforts to make the positions of its members and their patients known in the fast-moving health care reform debate. There continues to be a great deal of Congressional activity as stakeholders discuss goals of creating legislative health care reform language by mid- to late-summer 2009.

Obama Administration. As announced on Thursday, March 5, 2009, the Administration, in cooperation with the governors of several states, planned health summits in several states.

  • On March 31, 2009, a health summit was held in Greensboro, N.C. which focused on how to control rising health care costs and provide high-quality, affordable health care for all.

  • The final state health summit was held on April 6, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

  • Previous forums were held in Michigan, Vermont, and Iowa.

For more information visit, click here.

Budget Resolutions. As part of the Congressional roadmap for activity in 2009, both the House and Senate passed fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget resolutions. The resolutions, which are not identical, must now go through the conference process to resolve differences. The budget resolutions are roadmaps and directions that Congress sets for itself as it begins to set the actual spending amounts for the upcoming fiscal year through the appropriations process.
Both the House and Senate versions of the budget resolutions have health care provisions. Both versions set aside funding to fix the Medicare physician sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment formula, although the House version includes language that would make passage of an SGR fix less difficult. Both versions also create a reserve fund that would be used to help finance broader health care reform, though it leaves many of the details about how to use the fund to the Congressional committees that will be involved in developing health care reform.

Alternative Roadmaps. The budget resolutions in both the House and Senate are almost entirely the product of the Democratic majority. In an effort to provide an alternative vision for health care reform the Tuesday Group, a coalition of centrist House Republicans, met on Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL) gave a brief presentation on basic health care information and discussed the need for overhaul. The meeting presented an opportunity for all the groups, including the AAOS, to state their priorities for health care reform and provide input on topics such a tax deductions for the uninsured, helping small businesses provide coverage for their employees, protecting the patient-physician relationship, lowering the burden of medical liability, addressing the emergency care system, and increasing the availability of health savings accounts. Because of the speed at which the reform process is moving, the group is focusing on proposals that have previously been introduced in Congress so that legislative language already exists.

In the coming weeks the Tuesday Group members plan to meet to iron out the package's details. AAOS will continue to provide input on key principles of health care reform as the proposal is finalized.

The following are some of the activities that AAOS has recently attended:

  • On March 31, 2009, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee examined key health reform issues in a hearing titled, "Making Health Care Work for American Families: The Role of Public Health." The hearing chaired by Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and attended by Ranking Member Nathan Deal (R-GA) addressed the need to bolster the public health system, a vital component to making health care reform sustainable and improving health outcomes.

  • On March 31, 2009, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and attended by Ranking Member Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY), held a full committee hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services-Designate, Governor Kathleen Sebelius. This was the first in a series of confirmation hearings for Sebelius.

  • On March 31, 2009, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a hearing titled, "Making Health Care Work for American Families: Saving Money, Saving Lives." The hearing chaired by Rep. Pallone (D-NJ) and attended by Ranking Member Deal (R-GA) addressed how to save money by improving quality and lowering costs.

  • On April 1, 2009, the House Appropriations Health, Labor, and Education Subcommittee held a hearing titled, "National Strategy to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections." This hearing chaired by Representative David Obey (D-WI) and attended by Ranking Member Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), examined ongoing public and private efforts to reduce infections.

  • On April 2, 2009, the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and attended by Ranking Member Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), held a full committee hearing for the nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Further action for Governor Sebelius' confirmation was postponed due to Congressional recess.

[top] [back to e-card archive page]

  
 
OPPOSE  SB 1461 and HB 2599
  

The Imaging Alliance is a growing coalition of physicians, medical societies, and individuals joined together to support your patients' rights and access to quality medical imaging in Texas.  The Imaging Alliance believes that SB 1461 and HB 2599 (identical) will have a negative impact on your patients' right to direct access of imaging services by their physicians.

The Imaging Alliance is OPPOSED to SB 1461 and HB 2599 because

they: (1) will require a duplicate registration and regulation process already performed by DSHS with regard to CT, PET and related imaging modalities, (2) will decrease the number of physicians who would be able to provide imaging services to your constituents because of the unnecessary and burdensome requirements, (3) will create a duplicative accreditation process that CMS has already indicated it will set, as have the health plans, (5) will require an significant expense to achieve accreditation of imaging equipment and personnel which will increase costs, (6) will create the unnecessary expense and administrative burden of reporting all imaging referrals, (7) will create the unnecessary expense and administrative burden of reporting percentage interest in each imaging equipment, and (8) will create harsh penalties against the physicians for these unnecessary requirements.

SB 1461/HB 2599:

  1. Will not improve your patients' access to imaging services,
  2. Will only increase your patients' costs for imaging services,  
  3. Will decrease the number of physicians providing imaging services and therefore decrease your patients' access to imaging services, and
  4. Will restrict your patients' right to choose their physician for imaging services.

This bill is brought by the radiologists in their continued attempt to prevent other physicians from providing imaging services to their patients.  For example, the radiologists would prefer that your Cardiologist not be allowed to perform the imaging of your heart, or your Neurologist not be allowed to perform the imaging of your brain/spinal cord.  Instead of allowing the appropriate standard of care and market pressure to resolve this issue, the radiologists have come to the Legislature and asked for you to intervene in their turf war, again!

HB 2599 and SB 1461 represent a real threat to Texas patients and their ability to receive quality medical imaging from the physician of their choice. These measures supported by the radiologists are a continued effort to carry out a legislative agenda that was unanimously rejected by the House of Delegates of the Texas Medical Association during the interim.

Based on their past actions and current rhetoric, the radiologists will continue to seek the prohibition of imaging by all physicians except radiologists.  This would lead to the unfortunate result of ending your constituents' access to quality imaging by their cardiologist, neurologist, gastroenterologist, urologist, internist and every other physician.

Physician members of the Imaging Alliance are in Austin for the Texas Medical Association's First Tuesday, April 7, 2009.  We hope to have the opportunity to discuss this subject with each of you.

Imaging Alliance members: Texas Chapter American College of Cardiology; Texas Society for Gastroenterology and Endoscopy, Texas Urological Society, Texas Neurological Society; Texas Association for Neurological Surgeons, Texas Orthopaedic Association and Texas Ophthmalogical Association.

Please do not hesitate to contact Jaime Capelo, lobbyist for the Texas Chapter of the American College of Cardiologists, directly to get more information.  Mr. Capelo can be reached at (512) 469-9898 or at jc@capelolaw.com.
 [top] [back to e-card archive page]

You have subscribed to this newsletter.  If your contact information has changed, please update your account.  Thank you!