Best of ASCO, San Francisco, CA - June 17-18, 2005
Please read the program announcement for the Best of ASCO San Francisco meeting scheduled for June 17-18. An overview, final program, registration, housing information and forms are included in the program announcement. Early registrations for this meeting are due by Friday, May 20th.

SCACO - SCACO's 112th Oncology Seminar
Lymphoma/Leukemia 2005 - Innovations in Treatment / CME Dinner Symposium - June 2005
http://www.scaco.org/index.php?view=homes

Highlights of ASCO's 2005 Annual Meeting Held in Orlando , FL May 13-17, 2005 - NEW
• Key Scientific Findings - In Brief
• 2005 Abstracts ASCO Annual Meetings
• ASCO Daily News

MOASC Supports Congresspersons Wynn and Wamp - NEW
MOASC wrote to Senator Diane Feinstein encouraging her to sign on to the letter to President Bush asking that CMS extend the symptom assessment demonstration project through 2006.

Letter to President Bush
Now is the time for every practice to flood members of Congress with phone calls requesting that they sign on to the letter written to President Bush by Congressmen Zach Wamp (R-Tennessee) and Albert Wynn (D-Maryland). You can find the phone numbers to your members of Congress through the Legislative Action Center in the middle of the red bar on the bottom of the COA Web Site (www.communityoncology.org).

Congressmen Zach Wamp, a Republican from Tennessee, and Albert Wynn, a Democrat from Maryland, have co-authored a letter to President Bush relating to the Medicare reimbursement situation. Both Members of Congress have been staunch supporters of cancer care and this bipartisan letter shows that cancer care is an issue that impacts all of us, including both sides of the congressional aisle.Congressmen Wamp and Wynn are circulating this letter to the House of Representatives in order to ask their colleagues to join them in co-signing the letter. The letter asks the President for his leadership in addressing the Medicare reimbursement issue, especially in terms of now extending the $300 million demonstration project at least through 2006. Click here to access the letter, along with a dear colleague letter from the Congressmen asking Members to sign on.

We urge you to reach out to your Members of the House of Representatives to ask them to sign on to the letter. Simply contact them and ask them to sign on to the letter. They can do this by contacting Alex Richard in Congressman Wamp’s office at 202-225-3271 or Lori Pepper in Congressman Wynn’s office at 202-225-8699. This is our opportunity as community cancer care to ask our House Members to support our issue by calling the President’s attention to it.

In order to support you in this effort, COA has provided a brief summary and visual presentation which clearly describes the situation facing community cancer care. The entire cancer community needs to support this initiative!

COA will be publishing an updated list of Members who sign on to the letter.

MOASC Supports SB576 - NEW
SB576 requires comprehensive tobacco cessation benefits in all California health insurance products. MOASC supports this legislation.

MOASC Opposes SB583 - NEW
SB583 which prohibits any physician and surgeon from being in violation of laws if the physician treats cancer using alternative therapies rather than evidince-based medicine.

MOASC Opposes AB654 - Physician Assisted Suicide - NEW
You are also encouraged to become actively involved in the California state issue, AB654. This is the physician-assisted suicide bill currently in the Appropriations Committee, with no hearing date set, at this time. MOASC office will be sending out specifics for campaigning on this issue. Those MOASC members who are in the following assemblymembers' districts are encouraged to meet with them in their district offices or invite them to your office, ASAP.  Southern California Appropriations Committee Assemblymembers are: Bass, Calderon, Oropeza, & Ridley-Thomas. The MOASC office will provide you with the phone numbers to those offices to schedule the appointments. Please let the MOASC office know of the date and time scheduled with your assemblymember, if timing permits, I would like to join you during these visits.

CCAN Statewide Support Program
The Breast and Cervical Cancer Care Coordination and Navigation (CCAN) program is a non-profit program for low-income un/underinsured patients offering no cost, statewide support. CCAN's toll-free help line at (888) 921-7465 is answered by English and Spanish speaking care coordinators who will provide translation assistance in many other languages. CCAN conducts a needs assessment for each patient and works to remove any barriers that inhibit treatment compliance. The care coordinators follow the patient throughout their cancer experience, working to meet any critical unmet needs.

CCAN enrollment is a telephone call away at (888) 921-7465. For additional information, contact Holly Porter at (559) 244-3613 or via e-mail at hporter@healthcollaborative.org.

MM3870 - NEW - July Update to the 2005 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medlearn/matters/mmarticles/2005/MM3870.pdf

JSM-0535 - NEW - Just released!!  The CMS Administrator has announced a May 23, 2005 start of enumeration for the National Provider Identifier (NPI).  The NPI is the standard unique health identifier for health care providers that was adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.  The Administrator’s announcement letter informs health care providers about the NPI, describes three ways to obtain an NPI, and gives them guidance as to what they should do once they have obtained their NPI.  The letter, which also provides contacts and resources should health care providers have questions about the NPI, can be viewed at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/hipaa/hipaa2/npi_provider.asp on the CMS Website .

SE 0528 - NEW - CMS Announces the National Provider Identifier (NPI) Enumerator Contractor and Information on Obtaining NPIs.

CR 3415 - NEW - CMS has issued the revision on 3rd Update to the 2004 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database - Change Request (CR) 3415 has been fully replaced by CR 3505.

MOASC Comments to CMS Regarding CAP
Click here to read MOASC's comments, electronically submitted and via mail on 4/8/05 to CMS, regarding  the proposed 2006 Competitive Acquisition Program (CAP). 

ACCC Online Survey Reveals Physicians Not Likely to Participate in CAP
Click here to read the survey results.