Come meet the Father of Health Savings Accounts, Dr. John Goodman!
WHEN: Saturday, June 25, 2022 11:30am – Meet and Greet Noon – Lunch 12:30pm to 2:30pm – Presentations and Discussion
RSVP: SEATING IS LIMITED & RSVP IS REQUIRED. To reserve your seat email aaps@aapsonline.org or call/text AAPS Business Manager Jeremy Snavely @ 520-270-0761.
LOCATION: The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders 800 West Magnolia Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76104
Come meet your like-minded colleagues for lunch, networking, and discussions on Empowering Patients and Physicians in 2022 and Beyond.
We are pleased to let you know about an exciting event coming up later this month. AAPS is participating in the Texas COVID-19 Summit to be held Sunday, November 21, 2021 in Tyler.
Come hear from true heroes and experts of the medical profession! Details are below or please click here for a PDF flier.
Upon learning of Gov. Greg Abbott’s COVID-19 diagnosis, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and its Texas chapter sent the governor a letter wishing him a speedy recovery and offering him the services of physicians who are pioneers in the early treatment of COVID-19.
Texas physicians are national leaders in developing protocols to keep patients out of the hospital. The letter cites a study led by Peter McCullough, M.D., M.P.H., of Dallas, and his colleagues, which demonstrates the urgent need to more widely deploy early treatment for COVID-19 throughout the state:
“The rates of death in our study indicate that early multidrug therapy is associated with a greater than 90% reduction in mortality among high-risk patients compared to community rates of death associated with therapeutic nihilism in ambulatory patients who are subsequently hospitalized.”
Many other scientific papers and studies worldwide also demonstrate the effectiveness of early treatment using a variety of safe and readily available drug combinations, the letter points out.
The physicians also request an opportunity to discuss how the State of Texas can help make early treatment more readily available to its citizens, who are facing increased risk from the Delta variant, which has demonstrated the ability to evade immunity from available vaccinations.
AAPS, a national organization of physicians in all specialties, has been advocating for patients since 1943. Our motto, omnia pro aegroto, means “all for the patient.”
We hope you will consider joining us for an important virtual chapter meeting. It will be held October 16, 2020 from 6pm to 7:30pm Central Daylight Time.
The meeting will include Elections for our Chapter Board, discussion about our priorities for the rest of 2020 and 2021 and how you can help in the ongoing fight for patients and the profession.
There is no cost to participate in the meeting but registration is required. (Only current paid national AAPS members are eligible to vote in the election.)
The Good News: After Texans spoke out last month, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) scrapped plans to impose a minimum 10-business-day wait on patients seeking non-emergency care from an independent (out-of-network) physician at any hospital or surgery center in the state of Texas.
The Bad News: The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) stepped in and imposed a similar rule (applicable to independent physicians at in-network facilities), without an opportunity for public input, that went into effect on January 1, 2020.
Additional Background: Last year the Texas legislature passed legislation (SB 1264) purporting to address an issue largely caused by insurance companies, which has been mislabeled as a problem of “surprise” medical bills. The real “surprise” is that insurance companies deny payment for needed care and add obstacles that prevent and delay patients from obtaining care from the physicians of their choice. Because of your advocacy, and the efforts of Senator Hancock, the version of SB 1264 that passed contained a good provision preserving the rights of patients and independent physicians to work together without intereference from insurance company bureaucrats.
The TDI is now improperly inserting itself in between doctors and patients by implementing a 10 business-day waiting period for non-emergency care by independent doctors, for services performed at hospitals and surgery centers that are in-network for a patient, if the patient and physician wish to leave the insurance company out of the middle of their arrangement.
For example: if a patient, enrolled in a health plan regulated by TDI, wishes to contract directly with a surgeon who isn’t in their insurer’s narrow network, but utilize insurance coverage for hospital or surgery center fees, the patient would have to sign the TDI-approved waiver form, at least 10-business days before the procedure, in order to privately contract with the surgeon.
Keep in mind that a 10-business-day wait means in most cases at least a 14-day wait and as many as 17 days in situations where holidays add to the delay.
Unelected bureaucrats should not be allowed to force patients to wait for care from physicians of their choice! Rules like this, if left in place, are yet another step along the path to full government control of your medical care choices.
Please take a moment now to speak out against this proposal before the comment period ends. The department will consider any written comments on the proposal that are received by the department no later than 5:00 p.m., central time, on February 10, 2020.
Your comments can be submitted by email to ChiefClerk@tdi.texas.gov; or by mail to the Office of the Chief Clerk, MC 112-2A, Texas Department of Insurance, P.O. Box 149104, Austin, Texas 78714-9104.
The Commissioner will also consider written and oral comments on the proposal in a public hearing under Docket No. 2819 at 1:00 p.m. central time, on February 4, 2020, in Room 100 of the William P. Hobby Jr. State Office Building, 333 Guadalupe Street, Austin, Texas. The department requests that parties who plan to speak at the hearing send their written comments (or a summary of their testimony) to ChiefClerk@tdi.texas.gov by noon January 28, to facilitate a meaningful discussion. (Please let AAPS know if you plan to attend the hearing.)
Below is a template message you can copy and paste into a new email message and modify with your own comments. Don’t forget to add your name and city at the bottom. You can see our draft comment here for additional ideas on what you might want to say and to learn about other flaws in the regulation.
(Note: for many email apps, clicking here will open a new message, addressed to the commissioner, with the template text copied in for you.)
Subject Line: Rules delaying medical care are unacceptable
Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on 28 TAC §§21.4901 – 21.4904.
Requiring Texas patients to wait at least 10 business days to receive care from independent physicians — on mutually agreeable terms — is potentially dangerous, contrary to the wording and intent of SB 1264, and antithetical to the principles of limited government and protection of individual rights enumerated in the Texas and U.S. Constitutions.
That is why I am writing today urging you, in the strongest terms possible, to remove the waiting period that delays and impedes access to timely care.
Please stand up for the rights of Texas patients by correcting this serious flaw in the rule.
Sincerely,
[Name, City] Thank you for speaking out! With your help AAPS has stopped bad policy in the past. It is time for us to fight again and prevent this dangerous plan from being approved.
The 86th Session of the Texas Legislature is now in the rear view mirror. In many ways it was a disappointment since the body failed to act on bills that would have been helpful to patients and the physicians who treat them.
Although a number of the bills AAPS supported were not enacted, we are confident that the long hours, days, and months of advocacy performed by the chapter and our valiant members were not wasted. Success in the legislature, more often than not, requires long term effort and commitment. And the work educating policy makers this year helps build crucial momentum towards achieving our goals in future sessions.
TxAAPS will not back down from this challenge and is already gearing up for 2021. There is much work to do and we will keep you updated when your help is needed.
In the meantime, here are a couple exciting updates on ways your colleagues in AAPS are fighting back:
Lawsuit Challenging Prohibition on Physician Dispense
AAPS (national) President Kris Held, MD, and her legal battle to bring in-office dispensing of prescription drugs to Texas, was featured in Forbes.
Protectionist Health Care Laws Enrich Special Interests And It’s Patients That Pay
It may be easy for pharmacy groups to scare legislators away from reform, but two Texas doctors are now working with Institute for Justice to ask a state court to protect their rights under the Texas constitution. Dr. Michael Garrett of Austin and Dr. Kristin Held of San Antonio both want to use doctor dispensing to save their patients money and better manage their health care.
TxAAPS President-elect Speaks Out on “Surprise Bills”
July 29, 2019
Can Socialists Save Us from Surprise Medical Bills?
By John Dale Dunn, MD, JD
“Surprise billing” is the latest health care crisis, and it has prompted the usual response: big government to the rescue.
Balance billing — or a surprise medical bill — happens when you get a bill from a doctor, hospital, or other health care provider who isn’t part of your health plan’s network of physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers. Your health plan is your health insurance.
Surprise billing occurs because insurance plans can’t create coverage for all the providers you might see in their promises to insured, and insureds don’t get a proper warning about the impact of bills from out-of-network doctors and hospitals that aren’t under agreements for fees with the insurance plan. Most insurance/network plans don’t get the high-dollar and high-expertise providers to agree to their fees, which are pretty modest (often chintzy), so most insurance plans with “networks” sell a shabby product to the public without warning that they are not comprehensive and leave a lot of gaps that are filled by specialists and other providers who don’t agree to the insurance plan “network” fee schedules.Read Full Article: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/07/can_socialists_save_us_from_surprise_medical_bills.html#ixzz5xSp1IJkF
The 86th session of the Texas legislature is under way and your AAPS State Chapter is preparing to work hard to support a number of legislative priorities that will put patients first and protect the integrity of the patient-physician relationship.
We have two dates saved for Capitol Day events in Austin to visit legislators’ offices and advocate for these changes: February 6 and March 6.
We will alert you as soon as possible when there are changes or movement on legislation that directly affects the practice of medicine.
Policy change we plan to support include:
1) Point of Care Dispense: We seek to let Texas patients bypass middlemen who drive up cost by freeing physicians to directly dispense prescription drugs in the clinic. The vast majority of states already permit this but Texas does not allow in-office dispense by physicians. Rep. Matt Shaheen has introduced HB 460 to allow direct dispense.
2) Right of Conscience: Medical professionals should not be forced to participate in treatments or actions that conflict with sincerely held beliefs and which may be harmful to the patient.
3) Due Process under the Texas Medical Board: We seek to improve the process by which the board conducts itself. The TMB should be a fair and impartial agency that protects the public from harmful practices. Investigations and hearings that ignore due process and proper handling of evidence must not be permitted if the agency is to be trusted. Patient access to trusted physicians is diminished when trivial complaints are used as opportunities for intrusive fishing expeditions and fault-finding.
If you are able to come and join your colleagues walking the halls of the Capitol on one or both of those dates, please email president@texasaaps.org and we will give you additional details and add you to the list.
Thank you and stay tuned for more action items in coming weeks.
AAPS Group Rate $99/night. Reservation cut-off January 22.
COST:Workshop (includes dinner): $150 AAPS member $200 non-member, $75 Office staff w/ Doctor Residents, Medical Students FREE
Dinner Only: $60/person Register for Workshop or Register for Dinner Only
Workshop Information:
Beat the Middlemen and Bureaucrats Interfering in Patient Care and Impeding Your Ability to Practice Medicine the Right Way!
Come learn strategies for restoring the joy in medicine and putting patients first.
*SPECIAL FOR NEW MEMBERS-Save $100 Join AAPS at the special rate of $250 & attend the workshop for free
Bureaucrat-proof your practice with the workshop developed by physicians, not – consultants. If you’ve been thinking about quitting or are experiencing the burnout caused by a toxic workplace, this workshop is designed for you.
Come and learn strategies and tactics to:
Counteract, negate, reduce and even eliminate insurance bureaucrat interference in your practice and patient care
Fight back against hospital administrator attacks on physicians who put patients first.
Help your practice and patients navigate the challenges of encounters with non-physician clinicians.
Handle unwarranted Medical Board accusations that tie up your time and resources.
Dinner Information:
Join your fellow AAPS colleagues and the AAPS Board of Directors for a reception, briefing, and dinner on the evening of February 22. What political victories do we need to strive for in 2019 and beyond to restore and protect the patient-physician relationship and the ability to practice Hippocratic medicine?
Thank you for your dedication to patient-centered medicine in the Lone Star State. We need to ask for your help as we prepare for meetings to pursue additional necessary changes at the Texas Medical Board.
While progress has been made, too often we hear about physicians who are subjected to costly investigations that are not substantive, interfering with their focus on patient care. In addition, some doctors who raise concerns about patient care in hospital settings become the target of retaliatory complaints to the board.
AAPS continues its work to achieve meaningful due process in board investigations. We emphasize that the board’s actions should be consistently directed at protecting patients from harm, not pursuing administrative errors to justify collecting a fine. These practices consume physician resources that would otherwise be devoted to patient care, and they inflict damage on the morale of the profession.
Here’s how you can help!:
1) We need to hear your story if you’ve been subject to an investigation by the Texas Medical Board that you feel was inappropriately handled, or which involved an unnecessary investigation into an administrative issue. We would also like to hear from you if the original complaint was unrelated to the discipline imposed. If your interaction with the board was positive or neutral, we would appreciate hearing that feedback as well.
2) If you have suggestions for additional legislative reforms to the Texas Medical Board, please let us know what they are.
Please respond as soon as possible by replying to this email or by emailing president@texasaaps.org.
Thank you!
TxAAPS
P.S. On a related note, last month AAPS filed a brief in support of Dr. Robert Van Boven’s pursuit of justice against hospital administrators who retaliated after he spoke out to protect patient safety.
The AAPS motion to file reads in part:
AAPS has a strong interest in this case because the central issues concern the ability of physicians to act in the interests of patients, without fear of retaliation by a hospital against them. Judicial reviewability of retaliatory action, as presented in this case, potentially affects virtually every hospital in Texas, virtually every physician at every hospital, and nearly every one of their patients. Movant AAPS therefore has a direct and vital interest in the issues presented in this lawsuit before this Court, based on the harmful effect on the practice of medicine and the quality of patient care as caused by hospital retaliatory actions.
When Dr. Wacasey graduated from medical school in 1994, he took an oath to do no harm to his patients and to him, that includes doing no financial harm. But after spending over twenty years practicing Emergency Medicine and seeing countless ways he was being used by corporations and insurers to rip patients off, he went into business for himself by opening a no-health insurance practice. At the same time, he also decided to make it his mission to change health care – by changing the way Americans think about health care. To that end Dr. Wacasey has written two books – The Guide to Buying Health Insurance, and Health Care, and Healthcareonomics – 500 Ways You’re Being Ripped Off by the Health Insurance, and Health Care Industries (both available via Amazon, iTunes, and Nook). He created the Dr. W’s Equation app, which quickly and easily allows people to compare health insurance plans, then find the one that makes the most financial sense. Dr. Wacasey also maintains a blog at healthcareonomics.com, and is quite active on his Healthcareonomics Twitter and Facebook profiles. He is available as a speaker and consultant for groups and businesses who want to learn how to save money on both health insurance, and health care.
