October 21, 2022 Connect with us on:  

  Advocacy Action Alerts  
  New Alert! Contact Your Senators Today About Upcoming Medicare Payment Cuts  
 

We've asked you to contact your Representative about the drastic upcoming Medicare payment cuts. Now, click here to quickly contact your Senators to help ensure that any year-end legislation includes efforts to halt these harmful cuts.

Without congressional action, emergency physicians will face a 10.4% cut to Medicare reimbursements in 2023. Medicare reimbursement rates often serve as the basis for many private payors as well. 

Please urge your Senators by October 28 to sign on to a bipartisan letter currently being circulated by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Barrasso (R-WY). It is critical that legislators hear from emergency physicians about how devastating these cuts could be for access to emergency care for patients across the country.

If you haven't already done so, please also urge your Representative to Co-Sponsor the "Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022" (H.R. 8800). 

 
  Boarding Stories Needed  
 

Boarding has reached crisis proportions, and ACEP is working to engage policymakers and urge them to address it. Stories from the front lines are a powerful advocacy tool to help paint a picture for lawmakers of just how extreme the situation has become, and how urgently action is needed.

Help ACEP advocate for you and your patients by sharing your stories of severe or egregious boarding. Whether it's a patient who's been boarding for months or an ED overwhelmed with waiting patients and boarders, you can help! Any potentially identifying information included in a story will be redacted to ensure you remain protected. 

 
  ACEP Votes  
  Every VotER Counts!  
 

The midterm elections are just weeks away! Haven't voted yet? Visit acep.org/vote and enter your address for voter resources. Don't forget to tag @EmergencyDocs on Twitter or @ACEPNation on Instagram when posting selfies with your "I Voted" sticker or dropping off your mail ballot!

 
  What's Coming Up  
  ACEP Unconventional: November 2-4  
 

ACEP22 Unconventional is a unique online event taking place November 2-4. It offers much of the ACEP22 content, including activities, networking, and interactive Q&A with faculty, but with even more CME hours! Use promo code A483325 for a $150 discount on registration. And if you attended ACEP22 in person, you automatically get access to ACEP22 Unconventional. Keep an eye on your inbox for more details.

 
  Regulatory Report  
  Winter is Coming... Preparing for the Surge of COVID and Other Respiratory Diseases  
 

Public health experts, including senior officials in the Biden Administration, are worried about the influx of COVID cases mixed in with the other respiratory illnesses that hit every winter-and are trying to prepare now by increasing our collective ability to do more testing and treatment and by promoting both COVID and flu vaccines.

Earlier this week, ACEP President Christopher Kang, MD, FACEP, had the opportunity to express concerns and present policy options directly to senior officials from the Biden Administration. Before addressing COVID testing, treatment, and vaccinations, one main issue that Dr. Kang brought forward was the capacity constraints that emergency departments (EDs) are facing and the ability to handle additional patients that may seek care for COVID and other respiratory illnesses later this year. Simply put, he said that ED "boarding" and overcrowding must not be overlooked, as it adversely impacts every aspect of health care: access, wait times, delays in care, staffing shortages, burnout, and the inability to discharge patients from the hospital.

Read the Regs & Eggs blog to learn more about the White House roundtable and why ED boarding must be addressed in order to handle the upcoming winter surge.

 
  HHS Announces $15 Million for States to Tackle Mental Health Crisis  
 

On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced a new funding opportunity, authorized by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), for states to "develop and transform Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) to address the country's mental health crisis." $15 million in funding is being announced for CCBHC planning. HHS stated that Tuesday's announcement "builds on the progress President Biden has made in his commitment to tackling the country's mental health crisis by expanding access to mental and behavioral health supports and services." 

 
  GAO Report on Maternal Health Outcomes During COVID-19 Pandemic  
 

On Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled, "Maternal Health: Outcomes Worsened and Disparities Persisted During the Pandemic," analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal health outcomes and disparities. GAO found that maternal deaths increased during the pandemic, and COVID-19 was a contributing factor in one quarter of all maternal deaths in 2020 and 2021 combined. GAO also found that disparities in other adverse outcomes, such as preterm and low birthweight births, persisted for Black or African-American (not Hispanic or Latina) women. 

GAO analyzed the "most recently available CDC data, including data from the National Vital Statistics System, to identify trends in maternal deaths and other outcomes, such as preterm births, by race and ethnicity." The report includes a listing of efforts by HHS agencies to address maternal health outcomes and disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic.