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An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Leadership Support for Division Directors

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The ACR has elected a small group of division directors from across the country to serve on the Division Directors Special Committee. The goals of this committee: to better understand the needs of academic rheumatology programs and share with these programs new resources from the ACR and other organizations to support the needs of those…

Quinacrine Shortage & What the ACR Is Doing about It

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The FDA recently conducted an inspection of the only manufacturer that had FDA approval to import quinacrine. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not pass inspection and was put on an import alert. This effectively shuts down any importation of quinacrine to the U.S. until the manufacturer goes through the necessary steps to be re-inspected or until…

Possible MIPS Errors in 2019 Payment Adjustment

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Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) discovered an error in the implementation of the 2019 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) payment adjustment. It incorrectly applies adjustments to payments for Medicare Part B drugs and other non-physician services billed by physicians. Adjustments to affected claims will occur in the near future. According to the…

Lead Effectively: Leaders Are Made, not Born

Paula Marchetta, MD, MBA  |  

Every year at the end of January, ACR and ARP volunteers gather in Atlanta to learn more about a subject we seldom are taught in any formal way in our professional training: leadership. The 2019 Leadership Development Conference took place on Saturday, Jan. 26 and offered participants a unique opportunity to step away from their…

Update & Changes to the OIG Work Plan

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Early last fall, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its OIG Work Plan for fiscal year 2018–2019, which is a two-year framework for the audits, inspections, evaluations and investigative activities planned in support of its vision, mission, and strategic goals and objectives to maintain HHS program integrity….

Eli Lilly Backs U.S. Proposal on Drug Rebates to Lower Costs

Tamara Mathias  |  

(Reuters)—Eli Lilly and Co. on Wednesday embraced a U.S. government proposal to end a decades-old system of rebates drugmakers make to industry middlemen, saying it could lower the cost of insulin and other prescription drugs for patients. Lilly, along with other major insulin makers, Sanofi SA and Novo Nordisk, has been under mounting pressure from…

U.S. Government Proposes Rule Overhauling Drug Industry Rebate System

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—The U.S. government proposed a rule to end the industry-wide system of after-market discounts called rebates that pharmacy benefit managers receive from drugmakers, a practice that has been under scrutiny. If finalized, the rule would change a system that has been in place for decades and that increasingly has been criticized for obfuscating…

U.S. Judge Throws Out Maryland Bid to Protect Obamacare

Lawrence Hurley  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—On Feb. 1, a U.S. judge threw out the state of Maryland’s bid to protect the healthcare law, known as Obamacare, in a ruling that also sidestepped a decision on whether President Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general was lawful. In a win for the Republican president, Baltimore-based U.S. District…