Thurs., April 10 (morning) -- Illinois ophthalmologists attended the constituent coffee hosted by US Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk. This came on the day after the Medicare physician data was released, so this was an issue on everybody's mind. We were immediately recognized by Senator Durbin who was very sympathetic to physicians and actually defended the doctors who were portrayed in a somewhat unflattering light in the news media. Drs. Sohail Hasan and Mat MacCumber took a lead in explaining some of the intricacies of the issue to the Senators, including addressing the issues of high costs of medications, as well as office overhead. (click on blog entry title to view the a photo)
Thurs., April 10 (noon) -- Illinois ophthalmologists and Resident Ambassadors met with Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk during the AAO's Advocacy Day. Later, the delegation met privately with Senator Durbin's legislative assistant who was among the most knowledgable we've every met with. He told the group that he spends about half his time now working on the SGR "fix" legislation. (Click on the blog entry link to view a photo of the group with our US Senators.)
© Illinois Society of Eye Physicians & Surgeons | 10 W Phillip Rd. Suite 120 Vernon Hills, IL 60061-1730 | 800-838-3627