On Saturday, November 21, sixty Senators voted to move forward with the debate on health reform. Health reform is expected to be on the Senate's agenda for several weeks. To date, over ninety amendments to the Senate bill have been proposed as floor debate continues. Supporters of the bill are working to ensure that at least sixty Senators will support the bill as amended on the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently stated that they are still working to ensure there are enough votes to pass the health reform bill after the amendments are considered. President Obama visited Capitol Hill on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 6, to discuss the need for health reform with key democratic Senators.

During the first week of December, a group of 10 democrat Senators brought forward a compromise to the public option, including expansion of Medicaid and Medicare (buy in from the 55-64 year olds) as the debate continues on amendments we have helped to put forward – including a new Health Literacy Initiative for community grants; the Office of Minority Health and offices at HHS agencies; and the National Strategy to Eliminate Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities and with our NHLA colleagues – the Amendments to allow undocumented to purchase insurance in the health exchange, the documented immigrants to be eligible for health insurance without waiting 5 years; and for Puerto Rico to participate in the health exchange and receive more Medicaid support.

Should the Senate pass the bill, both House and Senate members will work in a Conference Committee and develop a compromise bill and each chamber of Congress will need to pass this final version of the bill before it could be sent to President Obama to sign for the bill to become law, which is targeted for January.

The NHMA has worked hard with our networks and coalitions to support the affordable and universal insurance, the public option, Puerto Rico and the undocumented persons in our communities to be able to purchase insurance through the health exchange, language and cultural competence quality care provisions, eliminating the 5 year waiting period for documented immigrants, the state and national prevention provisions for our communities, and the diversity in the health care workforce, especially HCOP and COE as well as the leadership of the Office of Minority Health to be included in the final bill. You can weigh in with your elected officials and ask that these provisions remain part of any final health reform bill by visiting the NHMA website.

Go to www.nhmamd.org – Advocacy on the Home Page ---Send a letter to your member of Senate and Congress today! If health reform legislation fails, we could lose this historic opportunity to improve health of all Americans!

Dr. Anthony Martinez, 60 years old, died last week in New Mexico due to complications from the H1N1 virus. He was one of the founding members of the New Mexico Hispanic Physicians Association, a member of the NHMA Board of Directors and Chair, NHMA Council of Medical Societies. He was a positive and inspirational person for all of us and served as a role model for students and residents and his family. The New Mexico society has started a scholarship program in his honor and NHMA plans to honor him at our Awards Dinner at our National Conference in March.

People recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to receive the vaccine as soon possible include: health care workers; pregnant women; people ages 25 through 64 with chronic medical conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes; anyone from 6 months through 24 years of age; and people living with or caring for infants under 6 months old.

FLU.gov is a one-stop resource with the latest updates on the H1N1 flu. On this site, you can find information on How to Prevent and Treat the Flu, Flu Essentials and Why the H1N1 Vaccine is Safe and Recommended by Health Experts. To look up where to get vaccinated in your state, visit the Vaccine Locator. This information is updated regularly as more doses are shipped each week.

An additional resource is the CDC hotline, 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636), which offers services in English and Spanish, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the past, flu pandemics have been characterized by multiple waves. Scientists and doctors recommend H1N1 vaccination even if flu activity slows, as it could resume later in the season.

If a report is available for your organization’s TIN or NPI there are two ways to access 2007 re-run and/or 2008 PQRI feedback reports:

 

 

 

or

 

CMS would like to remind users that the CMS Security policy requires IACS passwords to be changed every 60 days. An IACS user who has not changed his or her password in over 60 days will be prompted to do so at the next login attempt.

 

Updating IACS user accounts and passwords is essential to maintaining this access and functionality.

 

 

Join Hispanic and other health professionals who provide care and services to Hispanic communities in the U.S. who come together each year to share strategies to improve health policies and programs and research and curriculum --

March 25^th - White House Briefing on Health Care Policy followed by Opening Reception

NHMA and the AMA will host a Doctor Back to School Day as well as Capitol Hill Visits and we are still planning for the NHMA Leadership Fellowship and NHMA Resident Leadership Program once we get approval for the proposal submitted last month. (Please see website for ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS)

March 26^th – Federal Leaders to address NHMA Conference on PREVENTION VISION and LEADERSHIP –HHS and Congress

March 27^th – Corporate, Media and State Leaders to address the audience

NHMA and AAMC host the 3^rd Annual Pre-Medical Student Medical School Recruitment Fair

CME Symposia and Hispanic Health Workshops –with experts from all regions of the U.S.

Our planning committee and staff are working to create a great weekend for learning about the latest in Hispanic health to improve your practice and delivery of care to our communities as well as to provide a great forum for networking. Please join us and let your colleagues know about the NHMA CONFERENCE. For Registration information and for information on sponsorship, exhibits, and program advertisement ----please also go to our website now.

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine seeks a senior level faculty member to lead in designing, developing, and implementing ongoing evaluation of medical school curricula and externally funded grant awards, faculty teaching skills, and medical student achievement in a learner-centered curriculum. This position is also responsible for the evaluation of the Cleveland Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative. The successful candidate will be an innovative and creative professional educator with a Ph.D. or Ed.D. who has extensive experience in medical education, an established record of educational research publications, is familiar with educational innovations and best practices for educational testing and evaluation, and has demonstrated strong leadership, communication, presentation and facilitation skills. Faculty rank will be commensurate with experience and achievement.

CWRU School of Medicine, trains more than 600 M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students. Case is affiliated with University Hospitals of Cleveland, MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it operates the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Full-time faculty number over 2000. 

Applicants should submit a CV and a letter describing their interest and previous experience by email to Carolyn Jenkins (carolyn.jenkins@case.edu). Review of candidates’ materials will begin November 1, 2009. 

In employment, as in education, Case Western Reserve University is committed to Equal Opportunity and Diversity.