CEO Message May 30, 2008
Author: Lynn Rolston
Dear Member,
Medi-Cal Reimbursement Cuts Update
This has been a very busy week, albeit a short one. Significant progress has been made on several fronts. On the legal front, we continue to move ahead as well as work to get our coalition lawsuit back into state court while looking at additional legal actions. I should have more information on this next week.
A number of grassroots district visits with legislators took place this week. Thank you to all of our members who attended the meetings and told our story on behalf of pharmacy and patients.
On the PR front there has been a lot of earned media, which you can read about in our "in the news" section. We are also in the planning stages of a press conference, which is scheduled for Thursday, June 5.
Senate and Assembly Budget Committee Meetings
Kathy Lynch and Jim Gross attended the hearings held today by the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review and the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No.1 on Health and Human Services. Both the Senate Committee and the Assembly Subcommittee decided to have a discussion regarding the Governor's ten percent Medi-Cal rate reduction. The Senate Committee discussed the provider cuts as a whole and voted in favor of restoring the Medi-Cal Rate Reduction to all providers by 5%. The Assembly Subcommittee put providers in four separate categories. With respect to pharmacy, the Assembly Subcommittee voted to restore 3-4% of the cut to pharmacy after they determine the amount of money needed from each category of provider to backfill money for the public hospitals.
Due to the different actions taken by the Senate Committee and the Assembly Subcommittee, the issue will now go to the Conference Committee. It is anticipated that the Conference Committee will commence their discussions the second week in June. Congratulations to all of our coalition partners and everyone with CPhA who worked on this issue for the significant success that this represents. The ten percent cut to Medi-Cal providers was adopted by the Legislature in February and was not originally scheduled to be reviewed by the Budget Committees in their normal course. We are very happy that the Senate Committee and the Assembly Subcommittee recognized the importance of this issue and decided to bring it up for discussion during their hearings this week.
If the Conference Committee reaches a consensus on this item they would need to approve trailer bill language, which would in part, repeal/supersede the bills adopted in February that instituted the ten percent cut to providers. Such action would be part of the budget, which at this time is not expected to be finalized until early fall. Just to be clear, this means that we should not declare a victory but that we should be very proud of the progress we have all made to date and reaffirm our commitment to continue the fight against the implementation of the ten percent cut to providers. It is also important to understand that any action taken during this budget process will NOT prevent the ten percent cut to Medi-Cal provider reimbursement from being implemented on July 1.
Legislative Committee Meeting
The CPhA Legislative Committee met this morning via conference call. Kathy Lynch went through all of the bills on the CPhA Bill List for the 2008 Legislative Session and updated the Legislative Committee on the status of the bills. More than half of the bills that are on the CPhA Bill List did not make it out of their house of origin. Due to the Fiscal Emergency declared by the Governor in January, many bills were held up in the Appropriations Committees of the Senate and Assembly. The Appropriations Committees of each house held a record number of bills, passing out and permitting only the most urgent bills to move forward in the legislative process for the 2008 Legislative session. We will be posting an update CPhA Bill List during the next few days.
USC Student Film
As mentioned last week, USC student Bonnie Hui created a great video about the impact of the ten percent budget cuts. I sent you to a website to vote and she is now a finalist. Tomorrow is the last opportunity to vote for one of the finalist (note: I am certainly not advocating for any political party by sending you to the website for voting. The intention is to support one of our California students in getting out this very important message). To vote, please visit www.summerofchange08.com and vote for video #45.
Kathy Lynch's Departure
It is with much sadness that I announce Kathy Lynch, CPhA's Vice President of Government Affairs, has decided to leave the sunshine and great wine of the West Coast for the humidity of the East Coast! Kathy recently accepted a job with Invitrogen Corporation (www.invitrogen.com) based in Carlsbad, California. Kathy is going to be working out of Invitrogen's Washington, DC office concentrating on state and federal government affairs. Kathy is originally from Long Island, NY and is looking forward to moving back to be closer to her family. Her last day with CPhA in California will be June 13. We are currently working out a transition plan and will provide more information to our members prior to Kathy's departure. I want to assure you that even at this very critical time, we will have sufficient coverage and expertise to continue to be fully effective in our government affairs program and in our fight against the ten percent cuts.
Health Care Reform Briefing
On Wednesday, I attended, along with about 40 other representatives from provider organizations, a briefing by the Governor's staff on the revised health care reform initiatives. The Governor is very committed to continuing toward comprehensive health care reform. He is now advocating a two-phase approach and suggested that the first phase would include budget neutral efforts supporting cost containment, prevention and consumer protections. These elements will create preconditions for the overall health care reform plan to come. Phase two, which would be proposed next year, will include coverages and financing. We, as earlier this year and most of last year, will stay very involved with this effort to make sure pharmacy services and pharmacists in provider roles are fully included.
Visit with EDS
On Thursday, Veronica Van Orman and I attended a meeting with EDS staff in provider relations. These meetings took place regularly in the past and are currently being revived. It was a very enlightening meeting and we learned about the tremendous volume of claims and issues that EDS processes for the state of California on a daily basis. See the question of the week below for information regarding Medi-Cal provider training on eTARs and other topics.
California Chronic Care Coalition Meeting
Today, the CCCC met at CPhA headquarters to hold a health care reform strategic planning meeting. About ten members of the coalition met to discuss a number of issues affecting the many aspects of health care reform. It was an outstanding meeting with this extremely dedicated group of patient advocates.
CPhA Nominating Committee
This week, the CPhA Nominating Committee held its first meeting to begin putting together a slate of candidates for the 2008 elections. As the committee is just getting started, they are still very interested in receiving your "desire to serve" form, in the event that you are interested in running for one of the open offices. Additionally, CPhA is strongly encouraging you to speak with your colleagues regarding their interest in running and having you nominate them by email to the committee. Submit your "desire to serve" form, which can be found at www.cpha.com, or your nomination to Theresa Andrews at tandrews@cpha.com.
In the News
The California Healthline posted information regarding Medi-Cal cuts and how they would hurt everyone, and could possibly cause a "meltdown" of the entire health care system. To view the report, click here.
NACDS urged the House and Senate to reject Durable Medical Equipment competitive bidding proposals to help ensure patient access to pharmacy. You can read the release at Medical News Today.
We continue to have success with the oped I authored along with Bill Dombrowski (CRA) and Steve Anderson (NACDS). This week it ran in the San Bernardino Sun and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
The Modesto Bee carried an article regarding the disastrous effects the Medi-Cal cuts will have on health care providers.
House Committee members warn the pharmaceutical companies to end use of misleading advertisements. You can read the details at Medical News Today.
Question of the Week
Dear Lynn,
I wanted to email and inquire as to whether or not you have any eTAR training courses set up in Los Angeles, Orange County or San Diego? As the local Sales Manager for a portion of Southern California, I know my clientele would benefit from such training.
We could also co-host in some capacity if that would be helpful. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks, Kate
Kate Rossettie
Sales Manager
Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Cardinal Health Inc.
Answer
Dear Kate,
This answer comes from Cindy Garrett /Manager, Project Office and Education & Outreach at EDS.
"Medi-Cal does not currently have eTAR pharmacy training sessions calendared, but we would be happy to coordinate and schedule some in the cities noted below. The eTAR Project Team in conjunction with area Regional Representatives could easily collaborate and present at an upcoming Los Angeles, Orange County or San Diego event that you sponsor. If venue challenged, we could also check and see if any of the state Field Offices have conference room space that we might utilize. In terms of the upcoming Outlook 2009 session, Medi-Cal anticipates presenting at the event in February."
I am also aware of their willingness to do programs in other regions including Northern California. Also, we anticipate holding an eTAR session at Outlook. If you have any additional questions please contact Veronica Van Orman at vvo@cpha.com.
Thank you for the question.
Lynn Rolston
Chief Executive Officer
lrolston@cpha.com