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San Francisco Marin Medical Society Blog

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California Senate Passes Two Bills That Would Expand Scope of Practice; Bills May Potentially Endanger Patient Safety

The California Senate passed SB491 and SB492 that aim to expand certain health care providers' scope of practice as a means to address California's primary care physician shortage. SFMS and CMA strongly oppose these bills because they set a dangerous precedent of allowing non-physicians to practice medicine without being subject to the Medical Practice Act (MPA), which regulates the practice of medicine and in which violations may result in the loss of a medical license and possibly criminal prosecution.

New TRICARE Contract May Create Gap in Medical Malpractice Coverage

A broad "indemnification" clause in the UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services (UMVS) TRICARE provider contracts vary from the regulatory language and, depending on insurance policy language, may result in liability that is excluded from coverage under a physician’s medical professional liability insurance policy.

Medi-Cal Cuts Endanger Health Reform

Op-Ed by SFMS President Shannon Udovic-Constant, MD and Dignity Health CEO Lloyd Dean in the May 28, 2013 San Francisco Chronicle points out the problem with cutting Medi-Cal payments as the number who are eligible for the program increase.

SFMS/CMA Responds to Court’s Decision on Medi-Cal Cuts

Today, the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an en banc request from the plaintiffs in CMA et al. v. Douglas et al. to rehear the case ruled on by a three judge panel of the court in December. Please join SFMS/CMA in Sacramento on June 4 for We Care for California ally to stop the 10% Medi-Cal cuts.

ACA Loophole Could Force Physicians to Cover Care Costs

A loophole in the Affordable Care Act could force California physicians to cover the full cost of certain health care services. Under the ACA, families who obtain subsidized health plans through Covered California have a 3-month grace period before the policy is cancelled if they fail to pay their premiums. However, insurers are responsible only for paying claims during the first month of that grace period.

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