Editor’s note: Welcome to the first installment of Experiences in Advocacy, a special series authored by ACR members detailing personal experiences in advocacy. We need rheumatologists to join the American Medical Association (AMA). Here’s why, and how to do it. Having participated in your delegation for over a decade, I have seen major improvements in…
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Seniors have received some unpleasant news in their mailboxes in recent weeks: premiums for many Medicare prescription drug insurance plans will rise at double-digit rates next year. Premiums for the ten most popular Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) will rise an average of 8 percent next year—the fastest clip in five years,…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Medicare Advantage plans might not be meeting the needs of patients requiring the costliest and most complex levels of care, a new study suggests. Between 2010 and 2011, such patients were more likely to switch from Medicare Advantage plans to traditional Medicare, rather than vice versa, researchers found. The results suggest people…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about two multi-billion dollar insurance mergers on Tuesday, using a Senate hearing to take issue with the companies’ arguments that they face expanding competition from new rivals. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, said he was worried that consumers would be “locked…
(Reuters)—The U.S. national healthcare reform law has extended health insurance coverage to 17.6 million Americans, according to a new government report on Tuesday, up from its previous estimate of 16.4 million. The number of uninsured has decreased because of changes in the law that allowed young people to stay on their parents’ health plans for…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Two proposed mergers of U.S. health insurers worth tens of billions of dollars would hurt competition in commercial health plans in as many as 17 states, the American Medical Association, the U.S. group that represents physicians, said on Tuesday. Aetna Inc. announced plans to buy smaller rival Humana Inc. in early July and…
New legislation has the potential to streamline the audit process for Medicare and Medicaid, taking a burden off small rheumatology practices…
Each year in August, lawmakers return home for the summer recess and convene district workweeks. That means you have the opportunity to meet with members in their local offices, attend fund-raisers nearby or participate in a town hall. This is where our strength as a membership organization can benefit us most. We have real physicians…
(Reuters)—Insurer CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield said on Thursday its cost savings on providing healthcare rose sharply last year in a program that rewards doctors for keeping patients out of the hospital. The non-profit health insurer operates an approach to delivering care that emphasizes coordination among providers, led by a patient’s primary care physician. The model is…
(Reuters Health)—The number of deaths, hospital stays and healthcare costs decreased among older Americans on Medicare over the past 15 years, according to a new study. “Although our health care system has its failings, we are making remarkable progress,” said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, the study’s lead author from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. “People…