Congress reached a last-minute compromise that will avert the 27.4 percent cut in Medicare physician payment that would have gone through Jan. 1, 2012.

The U.S. House of Representatives agreed to vote on and pass the Senate tax bill, which will provide a two-month extension of the Medicare physician payment rate as well as a two-month extension of Social Security payroll tax cuts and federal unemployment benefits.

As Congress looks to find ways to cut spending physician reimbursement rates are once again on the plate.  WMS advocates will head to Washington, D.C. next week to visit with Senators Enzi and Barrasso, MD and Representative Cynthia Lummis to talk about the challenges Wyoming physicians face.  Data often rules the day.  If you have not yet completed the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Medicare survey, please do so today so that information can be analyzed and ready for next week.  CLICK HERE to take the short survey!

Reflections and an Overview of WMS Success
The 1957 movie “Three Faces of Eve” may be the most appropriate description of the 2011 General Session of the Wyoming Legislature. The session seemed to have at least three if not more distinct personalities.

The early part of the session was dominated by social issues where newly elected freshmen exercising their mandate to oppose anything connected with the federal government while trying to fight back against the Affordable Care Act.

Later the session turned to action on several bills aimed at improving education which involved long floor fights over teacher tenure and attempts to bring accountability to the educational process.

Third, legislators spent about a week working over the supplemental budget. The theme of “lower budgets and less government” held for a while but ultimately the legislature fell into its customary habit of adding to the budget, although it was somewhat more restrained in its spending compared to previous years. Finally, the social issues seemed to run their course, especially in the Senate with the defeat of several House Bills that could have significantly changed Wyoming. Lost among the emotional and highly reported bills were numerous issues dealing with the normal, if not mundane, operation of government and regulation of activities within the state. Four hundred forty seven total bills and resolutions were introduced with 116 gaining passage. The number of bills introduced was lower this year than in past General Sessions and was reflected in the fact the House was able to act on all bills except one that made it out of committee. Thirty nine of these bills were tracked by the WMS legislative team. Of the 14 bills actively supported by WMS, 10 passed and four failed. We monitored 18 bills and 10 of them passed and 8 were defeated. Success in a legislative session is often measured by what isn’t passed as much as by what is passed. WMS opposed seven bills and all were defeated. Thus of the 21 bills WMS was actively involved in, the legislature followed WMS’s positions 17 times

Summary of Important 2011 Bills The following list of bills surfaced as priority initiatives from the 39 that WMS closely monitored throughout the 2011 General Session.

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