| provider_relief_fund_application_closing_soon | Provider Relief Fund Application Closing Soon | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2021/October_22/provider_relief_fund_application_closing_soon | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>October 22, 2021</h5>
<h2>Provider Relief Fund Application Closing Soon</h2>
<p>The Biden administration recently announced it will <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/future-payments">release the remaining $25 billion</a> of the $185 billion that was deposited into the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Provider Relief Fund to assist physician practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventeen billion will go to physicians and providers, with an additional $8.5 billion to rural physicians and providers. The application is still open for <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/future-payments">Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments</a>, but only until Oct. 26.</p>
<p>PRF Phase 4 is open to a broad range of physicians and health care providers who have been impacted by the pandemic. ARP Rural is open to Medicare, Medicaid, or Children's Health Insurance Program physicians who serve rural patients. You can <a href="https://cares.linkhealth.com/#/">apply here</a>. Applications must be submitted by Oct. 26, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Visit <a href="http://hrsa.gov/provider-relief">hrsa.gov/provider-relief</a> for more information including application resources and technical assistance webinars that offer guidance on the application process and portal.</p>
</div> | 10/22/2021 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
| tell_congress_to_cancel_medicare_cuts | Tell Congress to Cancel Medicare Cuts! | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2021/October_22/tell_congress_to_cancel_medicare_cuts | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>October 22, 2021</h5>
<h2>Tell Congress to Cancel Medicare Cuts! </h2>
<p>In what amounts to a "perfect storm" of payment cuts going into effect on Jan. 1, physician practices face the following stack of Medicare financial hits amounting to a 9.75% cut. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Expiration of the current reprieve from the repeatedly extended 2% sequester stemming from the Budget Control Act of 2011. Congress originally scheduled this policy to sunset in 2021 but it will now continue into 2030.</li>
<li>Imposition of a 4% Statutory PAYGO sequester resulting from passage of the American Rescue Plan Act. Should lawmakers fail to act, it will mark the first time that Congress has failed to waive Statutory PAYGO.</li>
<li>Expiration of the congressionally enacted 3.75% temporary increase in the Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS) conversion factor to avoid payment cuts associated with budget neutrality adjustments tied to PFS policy changes.</li>
<li>A statutory freeze in annual Medicare PFS updates under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) that is scheduled to last until 2026, when updates resume at a rate of 0.25% a year indefinitely, a figure well below the rate of medical or consumer price index inflation.</li>
</ul>
<p>These cuts, if allowed to go into effect, would lead to fewer primary care providers, limited access to specialists, a disruption in care, and additional barriers to life-saving treatment.</p>
<p>Now is the time to build on that momentum and demand that Congress take action to address these devastating Medicare cuts before it's too late. Please take a moment and <a href="https://physiciansgrassrootsnetwork.org/be-heard?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f89064%2fRespond%3fvvcgUT%3dU2n8B9gDicI8Np0q9ql0_w%26unregistered%3dU2n8B9gDicI8Np0q9ql0_w%26vvcgRD%3dB9JMB6NAWfyggPQP%26vvsbr%3dzXUBtzqqnUZO0Xd9TjP4iQ">contact your senators and representative to tell them to cancel the cuts</a>.</p>
</div> | 10/22/2021 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
| wsma_calls_on_all_health_professions_to_condemn_covid_19_misinformation | WSMA Calls on All Health Professions to Condemn COVID-19 Misinformation | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2021/October_22/wsma_calls_on_all_health_professions_to_condemn_covid_19_misinformation | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>October 22, 2021</h5>
<h2>WSMA Calls on All Health Professions to Condemn COVID-19 Misinformation</h2>
<p>Endorsing the Washington Medical Commission <a href="https://sharpepr.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8871e6faa510d5f0c8cd8709&amp;id=e28c2e7d30&amp;e=00bec3e7c9">COVID-19 misinformation position statement</a>, the WSMA has called on all health care professions to condemn the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation that erode public trust in the medical profession and endanger patients.</p>
<p>In a press release, WSMA President Mika Sinanan, MD, PhD, said, "Any health care provider, whether a physician, dentist, naturopath, or nurse, whose treatment for their patients, whether for COVID-19 or another condition, is based on misinformation or disinformation are putting the public at risk. It is unethical, unprofessional, and dangerous.</p>
<p>"The public puts its trust in our opinions as health care professionals. As physicians, our patients put their lives in our hands. We cannot compromise this trust by touting treatment options that are scientifically unproven or shown to be ineffective and dangerous."</p>
<p>Read the full release on the <a href="https://wsma.org/Shared_Content/News/Press_Release/2021/washington_state_medical_association_calls_on_health_professions_to_condemn_covid_19_misinformation">WSMA website</a>.</p>
</div> | 10/22/2021 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |