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

AMA Workshop Focuses on Alternative Payment Models

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On Oct. 4 in Chicago, the AMA hosted its second workshop on alternative payment models (APMs). The conference room was packed with providers and staff from specialty societies ready to listen to a whole day’s worth of APM presentations from professionals in the field. To kick off the meeting, AMA President-Elect Barbara McAneny, MD, welcomed…

ACR Advocates for Affordable Drugs & Consultation Codes

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An ACR delegation will propose two new resolutions on issues affecting practicing rheumatologists and their patients at the American Medical Association Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates in Honolulu Nov. 11–14. These proposals promote transparency of pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices and the protection of private payer consultation codes. Resolution 810 The ACR is…

Payer Advocacy: The CORC/ISC Is Working for Your Practice

Douglas White, MD  |  

One of the least recognized, most important (certainly for rheumatologists in the U.S. running their own practice), and hardest working committees at the ACR is the Insurance Subcommittee (ISC). Currently chaired by Sean Fahey, MD, and managed by ACR staff liaison Meredith Strozier, this group of dedicated volunteers monitors the insurance landscape, fields complaints from…

Meet Dr. David Daikh—the ACR’s New President

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This month, the ACR ushers in its new president, David Daikh, MD, PhD. Dr. Daikh serves as the director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and as chief of the Rheumatology Division at the SFVA Medical Center, where he directs the Rheumatology Clinic. He graduated from the Oregon…

Lupus Survival Is Improving Slowly

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) mortality has declined during the past 46 years in the U.S.—but more slowly than mortality in the general population, according to a nationwide study. “Based on our experience in the clinic and according to previous reports showing improvement in the short-term (five- to 10-year) survival in lupus, I…

Obamacare Benchmark Premiums Up 37% in 2018 after Subsidy Cut-Off

Michael Erman  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—The average monthly premium for benchmark Obamacare insurance plans will surge around 37% in 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Monday, fueled by the Trump administration’s suspension of billions of dollars in subsidy payments to health insurers. The average monthly premium for the second-lowest cost “silver” plan for…

Varus Thrust Is Associated with Progressive Knee OA

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To determine if varus thrust, a bowing out of the knee during gait (i.e., the first appearance or worsening of varus alignment during stance), is associated with incident and progressive knee osteoarthritis (OA), these researchers undertook an Osteoarthritis Initiative ancillary study. They also considered hypothesized associations adjusted for static alignment, anticipating some attenuation. Methods: Gait…

Tocilizumab a “First Choice” for PHID Syndrome

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Tocilizumab should be the “first choice” for treatment of the autoinflammatory and cutaneous manifestations of pigmentary hypertrichosis and non-autoimmune insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (PHID) syndrome, say clinicians from the U.K. PHID syndrome is an extremely rare autosomal recessive genetic disease caused by mutations in the SLC29A3 gene. Children with the syndrome develop patches…

Judge Rejects Bid by 18 U.S. States to Revive Obamacare Subsidies

Dan Levine and Lawrence Hurley  |  

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters)—A U.S. judge on Wednesday refused to block President Donald Trump’s decision to end subsidy payments to health insurers under Obamacare, handing Trump a victory against Democratic attorneys general who have regularly challenged the president’s policies in court. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco said the federal government did not have…