The Rheumatology Research Foundation hosted the 10th Annual Investigators’ Meeting in St. Louis, June 24–25. The meeting provides Foundation-funded investigators an opportunity to learn about recent findings and research projects, network, exchange ideas and collaborate on future projects. More than 30 rheumatology professionals were in attendance, with presentations from 21 investigators. James O’Dell, MD, professor…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Enrollment on the Obamacare health insurance exchanges in 2018 and later years is expected to be less than previously forecast, dampened by the Trump administration’s decision to pull back enrollment efforts, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday. The administration has cut back on advertising spending, halved the enrollment period to six…
BOSTON (Reuters)—U.S. prosecutors have identified Insys Therapeutics Inc’s billionaire founder as an unindicted co-conspirator in a case accusing six former executives and managers of participating in a scheme that involved bribing doctors to prescribe a fentanyl-based drug, according to a court document. John Kapoor, who stepped down as chief executive of Insys in January, was…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Leaders of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee said on Tuesday they reached an agreement to finance a federal insurance program for millions of lower-income children and pregnant women that was due to expire at the end of the month. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the finance committee, and the panel’s top Democrat, Senator…
(Reuters)—A groundbreaking deal between Allergan Plc. and a Native American tribe to shield the company’s patents in administrative proceedings could also be used be to protect them from challenges in federal court, legal experts say, potentially dealing a blow to generic competition. Allergan said on Friday it had transferred patents on its blockbuster dry eye…
Current participants of the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Registry can now access the RISE dashboard and receive an estimated MIPS score for the 2017 performance year. (Note: This score is only an estimation and cannot guarantee the type of future payment adjustment; only CMS can determine penalties and bonuses.) If you are a current user,…
BOSTON (Reuters)—Insys Therapeutics Inc sought to manipulate insurance payment approval for an opioid cancer pain drug called Subsys even if for inappropriate uses, according to a U.S. Senate report on the opioid crisis released on Wednesday. The report, released by Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, said those efforts led to an Insys employee making misleading statements…
Effective for claims with dates of service on or after Oct. 1, 2017, UnitedHealthCare (UHC) plans to no longer reimburse consultation services represented by CPT codes 99241–99245 and 99251–99255. In lieu of a consultation services procedure code, UHC says it will “reimburse the appropriate evaluation and management (E/M) procedure code which describes the office visit,…
The ACR will be back on Capitol Hill Sept. 26 to advocate for lower out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs and the repeal of arbitrary Medicare therapy caps, as well as to shed light on the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in drug pricing. But it will take the voice of all rheumatology professionals and…
H.R. 807, Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2017, will be one of the key issues discussed when members of the ACR’s Government Affairs Committee (GAC) visit Capitol Hill Sept. 26 during the annual Advocates for Arthritis event. This bill—as well as its companion bill in the Senate, S. 253—is aimed at repealing the…