- Center on Health Equity and Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Med Students Urge Congress to Find SGR Fix
More than 200 medical students, hailing from 30 states across the U.S., descended on Capitol Hill yesterday to participate in the American Medical Association's (AMA) student lobbying day. Their main message was a familiar one: Find a permanent fix for the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.
One group of medical students from Michigan met with the staff of Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to discuss the 28% cut in Medicare reimbursement due to take effect on March 1.
The cuts will likely not happen: Congress has voted every year for the past decade to push cuts called for by the formula down the road.
But the AMA has taken issue with such short-term solutions and would like the SGR repealed and replaced with a new physician payment method.
The organization has recommended using savings gleaned from the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to fund an SGR repeal, which is estimated to cost about $300 billion over the next decade. It's an idea backed by more than 100 other medical groups, as well as several Democratic lawmakers.
In addition to reimbursement issues, the medical students advocated for an increase in the number of Medicare-supported residency spots.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/6lw2k56
Source: MedPage Today
Prices for care at hospital trauma centers vary across hospitals; drug shortages reached a record high during the first quarter of 2024; although 3 of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some US patients at $35, these do not apply to daily inhalers used by the youngest kids with asthma.
Read More
Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
Listen
The Biden administration recently launched the Global Health Security Strategy, a new effort to combat the spread of infectious diseases; lawmakers zeroed in on the risks of massive consolidation in health care during the first congressional hearing on the Change Healthcare hack; the FDA recently announced the recall of a pair of heart devices linked to numerous deaths and injuries.
Read More
Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
Listen
