Cath Lab Digest

   Dr. Glickman also cites the fact that some Medicare patients live on fixed incomes and cannot afford higher premiums while many who can afford such premiums may have trouble finding a podiatrist willing to participate in Medicare.

   What can CMS do to alleviate the situation? Dr. Glickman notes that for several years, the APMA has been part of a coalition of over 70 medical practitioner groups working with the CMS and Congress for change. Such a change would still result in cuts in 2006 payments but Dr. Glickman says the estimated decrease would be less than what is currently projected.

   The APMA and its coalition are also working with Congress to eliminate the physician update formula upon which the Sustainable Growth Rate is based. The proposal suggests replacing it with a formula based on the Medicare Economic Index. As Dr. Glickman says, the change to the formula would, in theory, reimburse physicians more realistically for the costs of healthcare delivery.

In Brief

   The American Board of Podiatric Orthopedics and Primary Podiatric Medicine (ABPOPPM) has established the sunset year of 2007 for eligibility for its certification exam for those who have one year of qualifying residency training (POR or PPMR) and are not already board-qualified by ABPOPPM.

Clarification

In regard to the Editor’s Perspective column in the September issue (see “Is Sports Medicine Getting Short Shrift At The Schools?” on page 17), the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine does offer a semester-long course in Sports Medicine during the third year for podiatric students.