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

Legislation & Advocacy

Some Public Hospitals Win, Others Lose with Obamacare

Robin Respaut  |  

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)—A year and a half after the Affordable Care Act brought widespread reforms to the U.S. healthcare system, Chicago’s Cook County Health & Hospitals System has made its first profit in 180 years. Seven hundred miles south, the fortunes of Atlanta’s primary public hospital, Grady Health System, haven’t improved, and it remains as…

Main Fund for U.S. Medicare Program to Run Out of Money in 2030

Reuters Staff  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—A slowdown in healthcare spending has shored up the funding outlook for the federal program that pays elderly Americans’ hospital bills, trustees of the program said on Wednesday. The Medicare program’s trust fund for hospital care will run out of money in 2030 the trustees said in a report. That was the same year…

Americans Want Medicare to Help Negotiate Down Drug Prices

Kylie Gumpert  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—A vast majority of Americans say the Medicare health program for the elderly should be able to negotiate with drug companies to set lower medication prices, a practice currently prohibited by law, according to a survey released on Friday. The poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 87% of people surveyed…

U.S. House Passes Bill to Speed New Drugs to Market

Reuters Staff  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill aimed at speeding new drugs to the market after lawmakers defeated last-minute amendments that threatened to derail it. The House voted 344 to 77 in favor of the bill, known as the 21st Century Cures Act, which would require the FDA to streamline the…

How to Launch Successful Rheumatology Patient Advocacy Programs

Christopher Adams, MD  |  

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a two-part series showing how a busy office-based practice can incorporate patient advocacy into its standard workflow. In Part 1, we looked at the reasons for incorporating patient advocacy into your practice and offered an outline for implementing it. Part 2 amplifies the concepts explored in Part…

The ACR Partners with Coalition, Patient Advocacy Groups to Advocate for Rheumatology

Chris Morris, MD, RheumPAC Committee  |  

In terms of getting our message heard in Washington, D.C., rheumatology faces a David vs. Goliath battle on several levels. Many industries have far greater resources, use multiple lobbying firms, and have advertising and lobbying budgets that eclipse ours by several hundred-fold. Rheumatology is far smaller than most other medical specialties; our membership is a…

White House Is Open to Working with Congress on Disease Research Bill

Reuters Staff  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The White House said on Wednesday it was open to working with Congress on a bill that would invest in disease research and would be paid for with sales of oil from U.S. emergency reserves. The House of Representatives is considering a bipartisan bill that would increase funding for the U.S. National Institutes of…

Rheumatology Community Applauds CMS Guidance Providing ICD-10 “Safe Harbor” Period, Encourages Further Action to Ensure Responsible Transition

American College of Rheumatology  |  

ATLANTA, Ga.—The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) today praised the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for issuing new guidance to provide a 12-month “safe harbor” period for physicians following the Oct. 1 implementation of the ICD-10 code set. The ACR has led legislative and grassroots efforts to responsibly address the transition to the…

Obamacare Ruling Ends Threat to U.S. Hospitals, Insurers

Caroline Humer & Bill Berkrot  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—The U.S. hospital and health insurance industries breathed a collective sigh of relief on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld subsidies for individuals under President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. Shares in hospitals surged, with several hitting all-time highs, on the expectation that patients would be able to continue paying for services….

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare Insurance Subsidies

Lawrence Hurley  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Supreme Court preserved President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law on Thursday, upholding crucial tax subsidies while turning aside a conservative legal challenge that could have doomed the law. “After more than 50 votes in Congress to repeal or weaken this law, after a presidential election based in part on preserving or repealing…