Meet the Foundation’s incoming president, Eric L. Matteson, MD, MPH. Dr. Matteson trained in rheumatology at the University of Michigan and Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He later earned his Master of Public Health in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Matteson currently works as the…
After its December meeting, the ACR Government Affairs Committee has determined the federal and state issues the College will focus its advocacy efforts on in 2016. These issues include ensuring implementation of the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 protects rheumatologists, creating an arthritis research program at the Department of Defense and more…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Enrollment in 2016 individual insurance through the HealthCare.gov website is higher than it was a year ago at this time, with 1 million new customers signed up, U.S. government health officials said on Wednesday. The officials cited the latest enrollment data as a reason for confidence in the long-term stability of HealthCare.gov, which…
Rheumatologists must speak for themselves and their patients, because no one else will speak for us. Advocacy is necessary to educate elected officials and preserve our ability to provide the best care to our patients. One way to reach these officials is through the local media. Here are some tips on how to reach out to reporters, write op-eds and letters, and become a knowledgeable resource for your community…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday that Republicans next year will unveil a plan to replace President Barack Obama’s national healthcare program, widely known as Obamacare, in its entirety as part of a “pro-growth” Republican alternative to Democratic policies. “Next year, we are going to unveil a plan to replace every word…
A recent study examined the outcomes of care for RA patients provided by nurse practitioners or physician assistants working in tandem with rheumatologists, compared with that provided exclusively by rheumatologists. Over the two-year course of the study, results indicated that not only was care not compromised, but RA disease activity control may actually have been slightly better in these practices…
Advocacy was front and center at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, and in case you missed something, Will Harvey, MD, provides a summary here…
“Treat to target regardless of disease activity level” tops the list of recommendations for both early and established RA in the 2015 Guideline for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. The guideline addresses six major topics, including DMARDs, glucocorticoids and biologics, and includes 74 recommendations. These recommendations are not prescriptive, and the treatment decisions should be made by physicians and patients together…
LOS ANGELES (Reuters)—The former chief financial officer of a California hospital and four other people have been charged in a series of health care kickback schemes that generated nearly $600 million in fraudulent billings for spinal surgeries, prosecutors said on Tuesday. All five defendants have agreed to cooperate in a wide-ranging federal investigation into the…
(Reuters Health)—U.S. public health funding, which covers such things as disease prevention, cancer screenings, contraceptives and vaccines, has been steadily falling in recent years and is expected to keep going down, a recent study projects. Real, inflation-adjusted public health expenditures surged from $39 per capita in 1960 to $281 per capita in 2008, then fell…