SACRAMENTO – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who has been a strong advocate for improving access to health care and voted for landmark federal legislation reforming the health care system, has received the “2010 Legacy Award” from a collection of Northern California county medical societies.

The California Medical Association (CMA) 10th District delegation caucus – which includes representatives from medical societies in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt and Del Norte counties – presented Thompson with the honor recently at its annual meeting.

“Mike Thompson has fought hard for California patients and the physicians who serve them,” said Brennan Cassidy, M.D., president of CMA. “He is tough and compassionate. He is a courageous leader who cares about making sure his constituents can get the quality medical care they need.”

Among Thompson’s accomplishments are:

• He joined 218 of his House colleagues in March 2010 in voting to pass historic health care reform legislation. The bill will reduce the deficit by an estimated $130 billion over 10 years – and $1.3 trillion over 20 years – and extend coverage to 80 percent of California’s uninsured.

• As chair of the Blue Dog Coalition’s health care task force, Thompson is continually working with both Democrats and Republicans to WHAT address the issues of health care professionals’ workforce shortage.

• In February 2009, he supported reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide cost‐effective health coverage for 4 million more children whose parents earn too little to provide their own insurance, but too much to qualify for Medicaid, and preserved coverage for 7 million children already enrolled.

• As a state senator, he wrote landmark legislation requiring health insurance providers to offer all children comprehensive preventive care.

• He wrote legislation funding a comprehensive telemedicine initiative (North Coast Telemedicine Network) in the rural regions of California’s north coast. The program became model for other state legislatures across the nation.

In addition, Thompson has supported significant legislative efforts to:

• Raise low Medicare reimbursements for physicians in 14 California counties, including Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties, where rates have not kept up with the costs of doing business. Thompson backed legislation fixing the counties’ geographic practice cost index (GPCI) rates with $400 million in increased payments. The boost in rates would improve senior citizens’ access to care in many communities.

• Repeal Medicare’s outdated Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) funding formula, which mandates steep cuts in the program’s physician payments. Thompson supported the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act in November 2009 that would have replaced SGR with a more stable and realistic funding system to protect seniors’ access to care. The legislation passed the House but did not clear the Senate.

• Improve beneficiary access to Medicare’s cancer screening services so more seniors will get screened, saving lives and money.

CMA and the county medical societies work closely with elected representatives to ensure that the interests of patients and the physicians who serve them are well represented. California’s physicians have pushed hard for reform that includes universal access to health care, insurance market reforms, shared responsibility and stable long-term funding.

The California Medical Association represents 35,000 physicians in all modes of practice and specialties. CMA is dedicated to the health of all patients in California.