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Why
Join?
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These are exciting times to be
involved in medicine. Yes, we
are a profession under siege
and facing many challenges.
But CMA membership provides
a true opportunity to transform
our health care system. But our strength depends on member-ship, because the
more we stand together, the more we stand to achieve for our
profession and for our patients.
To
Join: To download an application, click here. If you
have questions about membership, call 888/233-2937 or e-mail
joincma@cmanet.org.
Already a
Member? For details on how to take advantage of these and
other benefits of CMA membership,
visit CMA's
members-only
website.
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Member Benefits and Discounts:
CMA On-Call
Group Buying and Discount Programs
Contract Analysis
HIPAA
Help
Educational
Programs
Publications
CMA at Work for
You:
Preserving MICRA
Medi-Cal
Reimbursement
Reimbursement Advocacy
Regulatory
Advocacy
Legal Advocacy
Legislative
Advocacy
CMA
On-Call
Any physician who calls a
private law firm for information on medical practice regulations can
expect a hefty bill and probable lag time in securing the information. Any
CMA physician who takes that question to CMA ON-CALL can expect to find
the answer within minutes at no cost. As an online library containing
thousands of pages of medical-legal, regulatory, and reimbursement
information, CMA ON-CALL is one of CMA’s most valuable member
benefits.
ON-CALL documents are available free to CMA
members and can be downloaded from the members only website, http://www.cmanet.org/logon. Nonmembers can purchase ON-CALL documents for $2 per page from the CMA
Bookstore at CMA’s public website, http://www.cmanet.org. If you
haven’t taken advantage of this extraordinary resource, spend a few
minutes browsing the newly updated ON-CALL index , and see what
you’ve been missing.
Information: CMA’s legal
information specialists, 415/882-5144 or
legalinfo@cmanet.org BACK TO
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HIPAA Help
CMA lawyers have spents hundreds of hours pouring
over the details of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act so physicians don't have to. Through ON-CALL documents, CMA Alert
articles, interactive
compliance tools, and compliance workshops, CMA is there to help
physicians make their practices HIPAA compliant.
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Preserving MICRA
CMA
saves you tens of thousands of dollars each year by fighting to protect
MICRA. Trial lawyers have launched numerous attacks to raise MICRA’s cap
on non-economic damages in medical malpractice suits. CMA efforts have
protected this landmark legislation since 1975, keeping professional
liability premiums affordable for California physicians and ensuring that
more money is available to pay those who suffer a medical injury. Should
the cap be raised, adverse health consequences are inevitable, including
cutbacks in community clinics, loss of obstetric care in rural areas, and
much higher health care costs. Higher costs will increase the numbers of
uninsured Californians because they discourage employers from offering
health benefits. Intense CMA legislative efforts involving thousands of
physicians lobbying their legislators and public information programs are
working to protect MICRA.
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Medi-Cal
Reimbursement
CMA worked throughout the 2002 budget battle
to make sure that California legislators understood the disastrous effect
that cutting Medi-Cal reimbursements would have on the state’s already
fragile emergency care system. The proposed cuts to Medi-Cal rates
would have taken $360 million away from California health care providers
and ranked the state 50th in the nation in Medicaid reimbursement rates.
The governor’s proposed budget would have also tightened Medi-Cal
eligibility requirements, adding 450,000 working poor and their children
to the ranks of the uninsured. CMA-sponsored AB 3006 ensures that already
low reimbursement rates will not be lowered even further.
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Educational
Programs
Under Construction
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Publications
CMA Alert: A consise, weekly news
update for CMA members. Delivered by fax
or e-mail, CMA Alert will
keep physicians and their staffs informed.
Bi-Annual Directory of Members:
California Physician’s Legal
Handbook: Written in plain English by CMA
attorneys for physicians and their advisors, CPLH gives you the
current laws, regulations, and court decisions related to medical practice
in California. Updated annually, this 2,500+ page, easy to handle,
resource is extensively indexed by subject, law, website, form and court
case.
Daily News Clips: Sign up
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Reimbursement Advocacy
CMA's Reimbursement Advocacy program was developed to
assist CMA
members with their reimbursement related issues by providing coding, billing,
and payment casework advocacy. Here are a few highlights
of the program:
Reimbursement Hotline: For assistance with
reimbursement problems and/or to report concerns and trends that
physicians are observing in reimbursement for their services, call
415/882-3331.
Informational Documents: Answers to frequently asked
reimbursement questions, sample appeal letters, and information about laws
that protect you and will help you get paid are available on the internet
at http://www.cmanet.org/logon.
And don't forget, CMA On-Call
the association's online library of
medico-legal reimbursement and regulatory information.
Database and Trend Analysis: CMA's
database gives CMA the ability to quantify and analyze the
information that it receives from physician members about specific
reimbursement hassles. This information is used to identify trends and
problems and provide evidence for CMA to advocate proactively with payors,
regulators, and legislators.
Medical Groups/IPAs Insolvency/Bankruptcy Assistance: CMA provides assistance to medical groups, IPAs, and
their subcontracting specialists facing insolvency, closure, or
bankruptcy. Assistance focuses on bankruptcy court filings, payment for
unpaid claims, maintaining physician-patient relationships, forming new
groups/IPAs, and future protections.
For more information on any of these topics, visit http://www.cmanet.org/logon and
choose "Reimbursement Advocacy" from the menu in the lower
right.
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Regulatory Advocacy
CMA proposes and
responds to a variety of regulatory and administrative issues that are not
being addressed in the Legislature or the Courts. CMA’s regulatory
advocacy is primarily conducted through CMA's Center for Medical Policy
and Economics and Center for Legal Affairs.CMA’s regulatory advocacy
program is also directed towards implementing new laws passed either by
Congress or the State Legislature through regulation.
CMA undertakes regulatory advocacy on behalf of
physician members with government regulators, including the Health Care
Financing Administration (Medicare), the California Department of Health
(Medi-Cal), the Medical Board of California, which regulates physicians,
the California Department of Corporations which regulates private managed
care health plans, the California Department of Industrial Relations,
which regulates the worker's compensation system, and many other
government agencies.
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Legal Advocacy
CMA looks to
the courts, as well as the legislature, regulatory agencies, and
negotiations with interested parties to influence health policy and
improve the health care delivery system in California.
CMA's advocacy in courts generally takes one of two forms. The Association
regularly files amicus curiae or "friend of the court" briefs in
cases brought by others that raise issues of importance to physicians
generally. These "AC" briefs are typically filed only when a case is
pending before the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court, because the decisions
of these courts may result in "binding precedent," with the same force as
a law passed by the legislature.
Less frequently, and only
when other avenues of relief appear futile, CMA files lawsuits on behalf
of member physicians seeking to enforce or clarify existing law. In
addition, CMA has set up a legal defense
fund , the
purpose of which is to provide monetary support in cases, generally
brought by our members, which seek to protect or establish important legal
rights of physicians.
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Legislative
Advocacy
CMA is proud of its reputation as a lobbying
powerhouse. Our political successes are among the most distinguished in
California. CMA's staff lobbyists and an ever-growing cadre of physician
advocates keep legislators aware of how proposed legislation could enhance
or threaten patients' health or physicians' ability to practice
medicine. We are overwhelmingly successful at winning lawmaking
battles and equally effective at changing and blocking contentious
legislation that could adversely impact physicians and their patients.
Managed Care Reform: Doctors must be allowed to take
care of patients. We expose unfair medical practices, regulatory issues,
inadequate compensation and other initiatives that compromise the
doctor-patient relationship.
Actuarially Sound Capitation Rates: We work to insure
that capitation rates are based on actuarially sound data, rather than on
what the market will bear, and to allow physicians to be compensated at a
rate that assures quality and continuity of care.
MICRA: We
helped establish and continually protect this landmark tort reform, which
keeps professional liability premiums affordable for California
physicians.
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Contract Analysis
Service
CMA attorneys
provide detailed analysis of your contracts including managed care
contracts, hospital based contracts, recruitment contracts, employment
contracts, independent contractor contracts, and billing service
agreements. The contract will be reviewed for compliance with California
and federal law and from a business and practical perspective, to ensure
the provisions of the contract are beneficial for the doctor or the group.
For more information, download ON-CALL document #1075, "CMA Contract
Analysis under Managed Care," or call 800/592-4CMA.
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Group Buying and Discount Program
As a member of the California Medical
Association, you have the ultimate group-buying at your fingertips.
Convenience, Dependability, Savings, and Service are the features of all
discount programs available to CMA Members. CMA has developed strong
partnerships with the companies listed below for the products and services
you use most. CMA has meticulously reviewed these products to ensure their
quality and pricing will meet your standards. From auto insurance to
retirement plans, CMA’s discount programs will save you time and
money—many CMA members save more than their annual
dues!
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Business need |
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Solution |
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Contact Information |
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Automobile Insurance |
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Mercury
Insurance
Group
Discounted,
competitively priced rates – homeowners insurance too!
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888-637-2431 |
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Car Rental |
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Avis
Discounted
car rentals
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800-331-1212
ID #A895200 |
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Hertz
Discounted car rentals
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800-654-2200
ID
#16618
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Collection Services |
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I.C.
System
Full-service AR management
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800-279-6620 |
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Credit Cards |
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MBNA
Great interest rate –complete the application
over the phone in minutes
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866-GET-MBNA
(866-438-6262) |
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Front-Office Practice Management
Supplies |
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Histacount
20% off products from furniture to recall cards! |
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888-987-9338
800-645-5220 (fax)
www.histacount.com
member
code:11831
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Home Mortgage Program |
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Chase
Manhattan
Competitive rates & other
savings |
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Southern California
- Diane Uehlinger
(949)263-7025
Northern California
- Scott A. Hackbarth
(925)277-3307
Click
Here
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Insurance |
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Seabury & Smith,
Inc.
Group Medical,
Life, Disability, Dental and Workers’ Compensation. Competitively priced
packages for solo, small, medium & large groups
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800-842-3761 |
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Insurance Coverage for Int'l Travel |
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Gateway Plans, Inc (a Marsh corporation)
Medical, Personal Property and Liability for travelers
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1-800-282-4495 (9 - 5 EST) |
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Investment Services/ Retirement
Planning |
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Salomon Smith
Barney
Retirement plan
design, planning & investment assistance for physicians
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877-262-6200 |
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Investment Services |
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Mercer Global
Advisors
Financial solutions for physicians
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800-898-4642 |
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Magazine Subscriptions |
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Subscription
Services
Low rates for home or reception
area
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800-289-6247 |
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Professional Publications |
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UCG/Decision Health
Discounted publications serving business and regulatory needs for health care practitioners.
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1-877-602-3835 |
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