<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta name="Microsoft Theme 2.00" content="CALAAEM NS template 6.18.15v2.htm 011"><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Verdana;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Arial Narrow";
panose-1:2 11 6 6 2 2 2 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.msonormal0, li.msonormal0, div.msonormal0
{mso-style-name:msonormal;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal;
color:black;}
span.EmailStyle20
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><img width=624 height=152 style='width:6.5in;height:1.5833in' id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D3EC47.F03F26A0" alt="Description: Description: Description: Description: CAL/AAEM: California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='margin-left:15.0pt;margin-top:7.5pt;margin-right:15.0pt;margin-bottom:7.5pt' id=content><div style='border-top:solid #7F7F7F 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #7F7F7F 1.0pt;border-right:none;padding:4.0pt 0in 4.0pt 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#7F7F7F;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#7F7F7F;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%'>May 15, 2018<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><div style='margin-top:11.25pt;margin-bottom:11.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#DF0009'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:red'>Contact State Assembly Appropriations Committee members and ask them to oppose AB 3087 <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:15.7pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:30.0pt;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:0in;background:white'><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Tomorrow Wednesday, May 16, the California Assembly Appropriations Committee will be considering AB 3087 (Kalra), which would create a commission of unelected political appointees empowered to arbitrarily cap rates for all health care services in all clinics, hospitals, and physician practices in California. By unilaterally setting the price for all medical services, the bill would essentially eliminate the commercial health care market in California. Tell your legislator to vote no on this dangerous, irresponsible piece of legislation. <span style='color:#2E2E2E'>We need your help to take a stand and defeat physician rate setting in California! AB 3087 (Kalra) would jeopardize the historic health coverage and access gains made in California since passage of the Affordable Care Act. No state in America has ever attempted such an unproven policy; California would be the only state to implement govern</span>ment<span style='color:#2E2E2E'>-sanctioned rate setting. The bill is a poorly conceived, unprecedented threat to patient access to health care that goes against the Assembly’s own expert recommendations on how to achieve universal access. AB 3087 would be devastating to the emergency care safety net for all Californians</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:15.0pt;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:0in;background:white'><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>The below letter was sent on May 3<sup>rd</sup> to all California State Assembly Appropriations Committee members by CAL/AAEM.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:15.0pt;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:0in;background:white'><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>--------------------------------------- <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>Dear Assembly Member,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>On behalf of the more than 500 state members of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine - California Chapter Division (CAL/AAEM), we are opposed to AB 3087 by Assembly Member Kalra. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>We believe AB 3087 is a threat to patients and healthcare delivery in California. California has made gains since the implementation of the ACA dramatically reducing its uninsured rate primarily through the expansion of Medi-Cal. If AB 3087 is enacted, California would have the largest Medicaid program both by sheer numbers and percentage of the state’s residents enrolled within it. The program has nearly doubled in size since 2009 and now serves about 1/3 of the state’s population. California’s Medi-Cal provider rates are among the lowest in the nation and Medi-Cal pays about 60% of what Medicare would pay for the same physician service. These low rates limit the volume of Medi-Cal patients physicians can see and AB 3087 would further exacerbate this problem as the state now would now lower commercial rates while doing nothing to improve access within Medi-Cal. A solution to healthcare costs that does not include addressing Medi-Cal provider rates is no solution at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>Current payment amounts by commercial insurance payers are critical to the emergency care safety net. Commercial insurance payments are the only funds that offset losses incurred by treating patients on Medi-Cal and those who are uninsured. Medi-Cal reimbursement is abysmally low at 48th in the nation, and 1/3 of Californians are on Medi-Cal. Emergency physicians relying on the payments from 36 percent of the patients they treat to make up for the loss in payments from the rest of the patients they care for. Unlike other physicians who can decide to cap the number of Medi-Cal, Medicare, or uninsured patients they choose to treat when it no longer becomes financially viable, emergency physicians must treat every patient. A cut in payment from commercial payers, cannot be absorbed elsewhere and, therefore, means cuts to staffing in emergency departments. Cuts in payments to EDs will result in longer wait times and dangerous health outcomes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>The Assembly recently held a series of hearings through the Select Committee on Health Care Delivery Systems and Universal Coverage which resulted in the commission of report by the University of California, San Francisco titled “A Path to Universal Coverage and Unified Health Care Financing in California.” Two of the policy recommendations from that report were to: 1) increase Medi-Cal provider rates to increase access in the system; and 2) develop a comprehensive strategy to ensure a robust physician workforce. AB 3087 flies in the face of these recommendations because it will reduce access in the Medi-Cal system and make California an extremely unattractive state in which to practice medicine. This will drive physicians out of the state and make it extremely difficult to recruit the next generation to come and practice here. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>We respectfully request your NO vote on AB 3087. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our CAL/AAEM office at (800) 884-2236 or <a href="mailto:info@aaem.org">info@aaem.org</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><img border=0 width=200 height=32 style='width:2.0833in;height:.3333in' id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.png@01D3EC47.F03F26A0"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>John Christensen, MD FAAEM <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>President, CAL/AAEM<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:1.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><img border=0 width=113 height=58 style='width:1.177in;height:.6041in' id="_x0000_i1034" src="cid:image003.png@01D3EC47.F03F26A0"></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>Brian Potts, MD MBA FAAEM<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif'>Past President, CAL/AAEM<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:15.75pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:15.75pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Jeff Wells</span></strong><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><br>Deputy Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Brian Potts</span></strong><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> MD, MBA</span></b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><br>Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;background:#D9D9D9'><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Contact us at: <span style='color:#0070C0'><a href="mailto:calaaem.news.service1@gmail.com">calaaem.news.service1@gmail.com</a></span><br><br>For more articles, visit our <span style='color:blue'><a href="http://www.calaaem.org/news_archives.php"><span style='color:blue'>archives</span></a></span>. <br><br></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><a href="mailto:somcaaem@uci.edu"><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;text-decoration:none'>To</span></a></span><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0'><a href="https://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/calaaem"><span style='color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'> </span><span style='color:blue'>unsubscribe</span></a></span><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> from this list, visit our mail server.<br><br>Copyright (C) 2015. The California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (CAL/AAEM).</span> <span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:blue'><a href="http://www.calaaem.org"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.calaaem.org</span></a></span><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>. All rights reserved.<br><br>CAL/AAEM, a nonprofit professional organization for emergency physicians, operates the CAL/AAEM News Service solely as an educational resource for physicians. Dissemination of an article by CAL/AAEM News Service does not imply endorsement, agreement, or recommendation by CAL/AAEM News Service, CAL/AAEM, or AAEM.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#D9D9D9'><b><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Follow CAL/AAEM on Facebook and Twitter:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#D9D9D9'><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#D9D9D9'><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/CalAAEM/172577489479442?sk=wall&filter=12" target="_blank"><span style='color:black;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=28 height=28 style='width:.2916in;height:.2916in' id="Picture_x0020_6" src="cid:image004.jpg@01D3EC47.F03F26A0"></span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/CALAAEM"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=30 height=30 style='width:.3125in;height:.3125in' id="Picture_x0020_7" src="cid:image005.jpg@01D3EC47.F03F26A0"></span></a> <a href="http://escholarship.org/uc/uciem_westjem"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=112 height=30 style='width:1.1666in;height:.3125in' id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image006.jpg@01D3EC47.F03F26A0"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#D9D9D9'><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>