I spent last week at Southeast Forum and found many family docs in the south dealing with same issues we are in Ky. There’s a lot of angst re:Obamacare and expansion of Medicaid. There’s also still hope that something good will come from all this. The role of PCMH still looks favorable, we heard from BCBS South Carolina exec that they cont to roll out a blended payment system to PCMH practices there and are seeing good results.
I also had the opportunity to meet with Sen. Mitch McConnell at my local hospital. He was very interested to hear of the “plight” of family physicians and opined it would only get worse under Obamacare. I was able to put in a plug for an SGR permanent fix and workforce needs in family medicine. He asked me specifically about HB 1 and it’s impact on physicians and seemed to see both sides of the issue. Of interest Sen. McConnell said that the part of ACA which allowed for a small increase in reimbursement thru Medicare was something …”I wouldn’t count on…”
Please respond with questions, comments or suggestions.
Ron Waldridge,II