TMA Legislative
News Hotline
Wednesday,
Jan. 14, 2009
House Elects Speaker - Rancor Breaks Out in Senate
The Texas House elected Rep. Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) as speaker of
the House yesterday. For the past few weeks, we have been so intent on
watching House antics that no one anticipated problems in the Senate.
However, when the Senate caucused to discuss the proposed Senate rules about
the number of votes needed to bring up legislation, a bipartisan ruckus
broke out. Republicans want the number changed so they can bring up
hot-button partisan issues of voter ID and redistricting. The Senate is
expected to take up the rules again today. Stay tuned.
Can You Top This?
When the TMA president asks for action, these three physicians ask,
"How much and how soon?" Congratulations to Austin-area
gastroenterologist Alice Friedman, MD; Abilene family medicine specialist D.
Allen Schultz, MD; and Dallas hand surgeon H. Jay Boulas, MD.
They were some of U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn's best
pen pals last year. In fact, they were the most prolific TMA members when it
came to responding to our congressional action alerts in 2008. Each sent
e-mails in response to six different alerts last year - all of them
regarding the meltdown over physicians' Medicare payments.
"Grassroots involvement is the key to our success in Austin
and Washington," said TMA President Josie R. Williams, MD.
"The 2009 Texas Legislature and U.S. Congress have just convened,
and we will be calling on you from time to time to communicate quickly with
your representatives and senators on issues that are important to your
patients and your practice. As Drs. Friedman, Schultz, and Boulas can tell
you, the TMA Grassroots Action Center makes it quick and easy to compose a strong,
succinct e-mail to your legislators."
Dr. Williams urges all TMA members to respond quickly when a TMA Action
Alert comes across their e-mail. "I'd love to put hundreds of names at
the top of our Action Alert Honor Roll in 2009," she said.
TMA Legislative Priority: Timely Health Insurance Information
Buying health insurance coverage today is increasingly complex. Insurance
companies offer a wide range of plans with different benefits, exclusions,
and costs. It is nearly impossible to decipher the sales literature and then
make a direct, product-to-product comparison.
Standardized and reliable nutritional labeling has made it much easier
for consumers to make better food choices. Consumers can examine 20
different boxes of cereal and easily compare product benefits such as number
of calories, percentage of fat, sodium, sugar, and protein. The same
standardized system could aid employers and patients when shopping for
health insurance.
TMA's Health Insurance Product Labeling Plan would require health insurers
and their brokers to use standardized reporting measures to help employers
and individuals make direct, side-by-side product comparisons.
Once a plan has been selected, patients should have convenient access to
benefit information when they are making their health care decisions. Health
insurers should make this information easily available. Almost every card in
your wallet has some ability to provide data - except your health insurance
card. There is absolutely no reason why health insurers cannot provide
accurate, real-time information regarding the different benefits and
exclusions.
See all of TMA's legislative issue briefs in the Governmental Affairs
section of the TMA Web site.
Physicians of the Day
The physician of the day yesterday at the Capitol was Robert Youens, MD,
of Weimar. Dr. Youens graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 1976. He
is a member of TMA and Colorado-Fayette County Medical Society.
Henry Boehm, MD, of Brenham is today's physician of the day. He graduated
from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1962. He is a
member of TMA and Washington-Burleson County Medical Society.
Hotline Available by RSS Feed
Get your daily dose of TMA's legislative news via RSS feed. TMA
Legislative News Hotline is now available via RSS for TMA members,
their office staff, and TMA Alliance members. To subscribe, see the RSS
Feeds page of the TMA Web site. Once there, you can download an RSS reader,
such as Feedreader, Sharpreader, Sage, or NetNewsWire Lite. You also can
subscribe to the RSS feeds for TMA news releases; Texas
Medicine magazine; TMA Practice E-Tips; and Blogged
Arteries, the feed for our Action newsletter.
Learn more about TMA’s priority issues
for the 81st Texas Legislature.
Improving
the Health of All Texans
TMA: 401 West 15th Street, Austin TX 78701 Ph: (800) 880-1300, (512)
370-1300
Copyright 1999-2007 Texas Medical Association All Rights Reserved
TMA Web site Privacy Statement TMA Contacts How to Find It RSS Feeds
Unsubscribe from TMA Legislative News Hotline.
Subscribe to the weekly version of
TMA Legislative News Hotline.
|