Key Medico-Political Issues
Actively Being Addressed by
Robert B. Sklaroff, MD
[Updated 7/5/2000]

PHYSICIANS MUST BE RE-EMPOWERED TO ADVOCATE FOR PATIENTS,
AT EVERY LEVEL OF THE HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SYSTEM.
RHETORIC WILL NOT SUFFICE;
CONCERTED, STRATEGIC, FOCUSED ACTION IS NEEDED. . .URGENTLY.


MAJOR LINKS:

ORIENTATION

PHYSICIAN UNIONIZATION
CONSOLIDATION OF THE BLUES
MASTER SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH BIG TOBACCO

MISCELLANEOUS


The two major efforts being promulgated against corporate medical practice in PA (and elsewhere, conceptually) relate to the provider-insurer relationship.  The former is manifest as physicians’ begin to attain collective bargaining rights; the latter is manifest by the upcoming hearings to be conducted by the Insurance Department due to its precipitous approval of the  consolidation of PA Blue Shield and Blue Cross of Western PA.   The major effort to maximize the potential of tobacco  control activities is the ongoing challenge (in PA Superior Court, in PA Commonwealth Court and, soon, in the U.S. Supreme Court) to the onerous "Master Settlement Agreement" between Big Tobacco and Big Government (Commonwealth of PA).

The data contained on these pages are intended to promote a deeper appreciation for the urgency of these concerns.  Therefore, that I've had to "do my own PR" is a natural outgrowth of this process (rather than excessively self-referential) for journalists have often been the most-interested people when I've attempted to entice anyone to contemplate such myriad causes.  And when my motives are questioned, I subject myself to intense scrutiny and, thereby, behaviorally pledge that future success (should it occur) would yield a comparable philosophical approach to public/professional communications.  Thus, included are key e-mail updates generated and distributed with regard to these (and other) medico-political activities.

The hyperlinks provided below yield a generic ORIENTATION to how I have tried to organize data on my Web-sites; a connection to the preferred collective bargaining organization with which I've become associated during the past year, the FEDERATION OF PHYSICIANS AND DENTISTS; a compendium of baseline information regarding my "HIGHMARK" LITIGATION; the TOBACCO LITIGATION BASELINE DOCUMENTS; and a virtual wonderland of high-quality and unique journalistic achievement regarding socio-economic forces affecting medicine, both locally and nationally, PHYSICIAN'S NEWS DIGEST (of which I'm on theEditorial Board, serving at the pleasure of Mr. Jeffrey Barg).

Included, also, on these Web-Pages will be information provided more generically within the realm of Medical Politics, such as my 2/2000 filing with regard to the implementation of the PA "Patient's Bill of Rights" Regulations through the Department of Health.


BASIC LINKS:

MY MEDICAL PRACTICE

 FEDERATION OF PHYSICIANS AND DENTISTS
 "HIGHMARK" LITIGATION BASELINE DOCUMENTS
 TOBACCO LITIGATION BASELINE DOCUMENTS

 PHYSICIAN'S NEWS DIGEST


Consulting an index of all documents uploaded on this (5 megabyte) website may facilitate travel, but the bulk of the  tobacco-related documentation resides in a (50 megabyte) website in Geneva, Switzerland.  Comments or suggestions may be conveyed by e-mail, or communicated by more traditional methods by writing (via FAX or snail-mail) or calling (at any time).  INPUT  (IN MYRIAD FORMS)  IS NEEDED REGARDING EACH OF THE ABOVE-DETAILED ISSUES!

You may also wish to sign the guestbook.

Robert B. Sklaroff, MD
Suite #130
50 East Township Line Road
Elkins Park, PA  19027-2253
(215) 663-8200
FAX:  (215) 663-8388
rsklaroff@home.com
http://members.home.net/rsklaroff/homepage.html