Hydrocodone Drugs Moving to Schedule II Oct 6
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published a final rule Aug. 22 that changes the controlled substance scheduling of hydrocodone combination products (HCP) from Schedule III to Schedule II. The change is scheduled to take effect Oct. 6. The new rules include these requirements: HCP prescriptions issued on or…
New restrictions on hydrocodone to take effect
Article below from USA Today Online. Read more at federalregister.gov. WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is finalizing new restrictions on hundreds of medicines containing hydrocodone, the highly addictive painkiller that has grown into the most widely prescribed drug in the U.S. The new rules mean that drugs…
Medicaid enrollment grows even in states that have not embraced expansion.
The New York Times (8/12, Sanger-Katz, Subscription Publication) reports that “even in states that haven’t changed their Medicaid programs, nearly a million people signed up for Medicaid this year.” Health experts say that the “reason is a phenomenon” called the “welcome mat effect” or “woodwork effect,” the idea…
ARKANSAS SEES SHARPEST DROP IN UNINSURED RATE IN THE NATION
LITTLE ROCK - A Gallup report released Tuesday (Aug 5, 2014) shows that Arkansas outpaced the rest of the country in reducing the rate of uninsured residents during the first six months of 2014. Arkansas's uninsured rate fell from 22.5% at the end of 2013 to 12.4% midway…
WHO: Ebola death toll now at 887
The Ebola outbreak continues to generate extensive coverage, with all three of last night’s national television news broadcasts leading with the story and devoting a total of 13 minutes of coverage to the topic. Additionally, all major US newspapers, wires, and websites cover at least some facet of…
8 things you should know about Medicare’s proposed payment rule
Article from AMA Wire, 7/18/2014, 2:10 PM. If the policies set forth in the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule take effect, physicians will be in for a lot of changes—many of them unfavorable—next year. Here are the top eight things that you should know: 1. A…
HIV diagnosis rates drop by a third over past 10 years.
Article from AMA Mourning Rounds, 7-22-14. USA Today (7/20, Graham) reported that according to research presented at the International AIDS Conference and in a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “the rate of diagnosis for HIV infections has fallen in the United States…
Avoid 2016 Medicare penalty: Use a registry for quality reporting
Article from AMA Wire, 7/7/2014, 10:00 AM Physicians who don’t successfully report for Medicare’s Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) this year will face a 2 percent payment penalty in 2016. One of the ways to report is through clinical registries, for which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid…
Texarkana illustrating how health care law is altering US economic geography
In a front page story, the New York Times (6/9, A1, Lowrey, Subscription Publication) reports that in Texarkana, the state line between Texas and Arkansas is a serious healthcare divide, as Arkansas has expanded Medicaid and Texas has not. The Times says that “none of the low-income Texarkana…
David Wroten Speaks to KARK About Tax Return Scam
Arkansas Medical Society EVP, David Wroten address the recent tax return scam that is spreading across the country. For more information on how you can protect your personal information, read more here.
UPDATE: Fraudulent IRS Tax Filings
Recently the AMS along with several other state medical societies alerted physicians to a Social Security number breach resulting in fraudulent 2013 IRS tax filings. Physicians and a handful of other medical professionals appear to be the target of this scam. AMS has received over 35 calls from Arkansas…