Monday Rx | May 21st, 2018 | New Benefits, State Budget Update and More! May 24, 2018 Monday RX 1004 New Student Loan Refinancing Benefit Potential to Save Thousands One of the biggest issues facing physicians, particularly those in the early stages of their careers, is student loans. CMA announced a new partnership with SoFi, an online personal finance company, to provide members with a unique opportunity to refinance and consolidate existing student loans through the SoFi at Work program. SoFi will offer members student loan refinancing options, which include low-variable and fixed rates with terms ranging from five to 20 years, with an additional rate discount of 0.25 percent. Parent PLUS loans can also be refinanced. There are no prepayment penalties. Borrowers could save $15,7672 over the life of their loans on average when they refinance their student loans with SoFi. The California-based SoFi is a leader in student loan refinancing and marketplace lending in the United States, with more than $30 billion in loans to date. "People often face a hard choice between saving for retirement or paying down student debt when the answer is they should and can do both," said Wayne Thorsen, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships at SoFi. "Forward-thinking companies and associations like CMA are thinking about the most meaningful ways to address these stresses and their members' overall financial wellness." CMA members who refinance with SoFi also become SoFi members, which unlocks other benefits including complimentary career counseling, networking events and a referral program incentive. Members can learn more and access the savings at sofi.com/CMA. State Budget Update On the state budget front, Governor Jerry Brown released his revised budget proposal for fiscal year 2018-19. The proposal includes total General Fund expenditures of $137.6 billion, an increase of $10 billion (8.3 percent) over the current year. The revised budget proposal continues the Administration's commitment to using the Proposition 56 tobacco tax funding to provide supplemental payments for Medi-Cal providers. However, because claims for physician payments for the designated CPT codes were lower than expected, expenditures in the current fiscal year were also lower than expected. The total dollar amount allocated for physician payments remains unchanged from the January budget at $1.3 billion, and any funds unspent in 2017-18 and 2018-19 will rollover for expenditure in 2019-20. Governor Brown's revised budget includes $40 million for graduate medical education (GME) as required by Proposition 56. The budget proposal also includes $55 million to support psychiatric GME programs in underserved areas, which is part of a larger package of mental health proposals that the Governor is putting forward. Budget subcommittees in both houses of the legislature are holding hearings to discuss these and other budget issues. A Warm Welcome Today, thanks to LACMA board member Dr. Sion Roy, I joined UCLA leadership to host Dr. Tamsin Waterhouse who is the Sydney (Australia) Local Health District Medical Director. The SLHD serves about a million people in Sydney's Inner West with a quaternary hospital, tertiary hospital, district level hospital, a rehab hospital and a dental hospital in addition to a network of community centers, baby health and AIDS clinic. Dr. Waterhouse, who is a physician and attorney, focuses on performance enhancement, improved delivery of service, and instituting new service in an always challenging environment. Dr. Don Larsen, chief medical officer at Providence St Johns, hosted Dr. Waterhouse this morning as well. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Waterhouse to the Los Angeles County medical community! Partner Updates Learn More About Your Opportunity to Transition from Clinician to C-Suite Executive Each week I strive to introduce members to a LACMA partner that can help physician members regardless of specialty or mode of practice. You can find our partners on our web site. Whether you are in private practice or in a group setting, we have benefits and solutions designed specifically for you. Click here to learn more about your benefits. We are in active negotiations with Witt Kieffer, the only top ten search firm dedicated to healthcare recruiting. Witt Kieffer has served as trusted advisors to the nation's hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, physician groups and other healthcare enterprises for nearly 50 years. In addition, we are hosting, in partnership with the American College of Healthcare Executives, a distinguished panel of physicians and healthcare executives as they discuss the journey from clinical practice to the C-Suite. The panel will be held on May 31st at USC Verdugo Hills. To register, click here. We are also in active conversations with McKesson and their supply chain and credentialing solutions. Learn More About ACO Enrollment Deadline Extended to June 19th! National ACO, is a Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO), which helps physician participants and affiliates with tools to improve guidance of healthcare, chronic disease coordination and preventive care decisions, for their Medicare Fee-for-Service patients. The Next Generation Model is evaluated on its ability to deliver better care for individuals, better health for populations, and lower growth expenditures. The deadline for enrollment has been extended to June 19th. The deadline is a CMS requirement for NACO to send a list for potential providers to participate in the upcoming Performance Year (PY) 2019. During this time, CMS will check provider eligibility on PECOS and CMS integrity lists. Additionally, CMS will review the providers' billing and coding data to determine a preliminary attribution patient list for PY 2019. Since NACO is a performance-based ACO, it selects physicians who participate through IPAs, medical groups, and associations. LACMA/CMA provides organizational oversight and value-added services that enhance quality performance through the Next Gen ACO Model of care. Contact me if you have questions and would like to get started! EVENTS AND COMMUNITY Participation Requested Survey Regarding Family Caregivers of Older Patients LACMA is pleased to assist the Latino Caregiver Project (launched by the St Barnabas Senior Services in partnership with the American Association of Retired Persons, AARP) in conducting a brief survey of providers on their approach to identify family caregivers of older patients and their particular needs. This survey is based on Latino patients and their caregivers, but we anticipate that the results of this brief survey will inform our efforts to support the practices of LACMA members and assist them in the care of all of their senior patients. You are Invited! Los Angeles County Medical Association's Annual Installation of OfficersJune 21, 2018 Hotel Casa del Mar 1910 Ocean Way Santa Monica, CA 90405 R.S.V.P lisa@lacmanet.org Thursday, May 31st 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM USC Verdugo Hills Hospital 1812 Verdugo Hills Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91208 Please join a distinguished panel of physicians and healthcare executives as they discuss the journey from clinical practice to the C-suite. The discussion will focus on what does a physician need to know to be effective in an administrative role within a hospital or healthcare system? What are the approaches that have worked well in making a transition from clinical practice to administrative leader? What are the keys and/or barriers to successful healthcare administration as a physician leader? Contact us if you are interested in attending! Thank you! Gustavo Friederichsen Chief Executive Officer Los Angeles County Medical Association "If it matters to our LACMA members, it matters to me."