ACR Past President Douglas White, MD, PhD, discusses his transition to private practice & the tensions between private practice & academic rheumatologists.
An American rheumatology fellow explores the differences& similarities between the U.S. & Chinese health systems through a visit toa hospital inHangzhou, China.
Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is implementing a new prior authorization model called the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model. This six-year model, starting on Jan. 1, 2026, aims to reduce fraud, waste and abuse in traditional Medicare by using technology-enabled processes for prior authorization and…
On July 1, Aetna launched its new Combined Benefit Management Drug List, effectively moving romosozumab-aqqg (Evenity) and infliximab (Remicade) to pharmacy-only coverage for most fully insured commercial plans. The ACR has contacted Aetna leaders to raise concerns about patient access to these therapies.
Issues discussed at a meeting with the Office of Management & Budget included increasing Medicare reimbursement for physicians, telemedicine permanence, removing G2211 restrictions, adequate reimbursement for therapies and more flexibility for chemotherapy administration codes. The proposed rule is currently under review by the OMB, which is usually the last step prior to releasing publicly for stakeholder review and comment.
In response to agency requests for feedback on how to streamline regulations and reduce administrative burden on Medicare program stakeholders and small business owners, the ACR called for the removal of certain regulations related to prior authorization, pharmacy benefit managers and Medicare Part B and Part D access.
Registration is now open for the first-ever Practice Innovation Summit, which will dive into operational and financial strategies to grow and sustain private and community-based practices.
Aetna recently notified practices about the launch of its Combined Benefit Management Drug List, which will result in romosozumab-aqqg (Evenity) and infliximab (Remicade) moving to pharmacy-only coverage on July 1. The ACR is working to oppose this change.
Aetna recently expanded its Claim and Code Review Program, which results in the downcoding of certain level 4 and 5 evaluation and management claims. Practices are advised to monitor remittance documents for appropriate reimbursement.
This week, the Coalition sent Congressional leadership a letter detailing the results of a recent survey about how underwater biosimilars are impacting physicians’ ability to provide high-quality care. Almost all of the nearly 200 practices queried reported being underwater on several biosimilars, with rituximab and infliximab biosimilars being the most common.