2015 Annual Meeting Recap
Physicians from across the state met on April 17th-18th in Fayetteville to discuss advocacy efforts, elect new physician leaders, participate in educational opportunities and plan for the future of healthcare in our state. At the forefront of each activity was the overarching concern for the patients of Arkansas, as…
G. Edward Bryant, MD Installed as President
Little Rock – G. Edward Bryant, MD, a West Memphis physician, was installed as president of the Arkansas Medical Society at the group’s annual meeting in Fayetteville. He will serve a one-year term through spring 2016. Dr. Bryant, an ophthalmologist, has been an active member of the society…
CONGRESS REPEALS SGR … BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
Tuesday, April 14, on a bipartisan vote of 92 to 8, the Senate passed H.R. 2, the "Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act," or MACRA. All six members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation supported this legislation. The measure replaces the Medicare SGR formula for physician payments in place…
Supreme Court rules providers cannot sue states for higher Medicaid rates.
The Washington Post (4/1, Barnes) reports that the Supreme Court “narrowly ruled” Tuesday “that neither the Constitution nor federal law authorizes doctors and other health-care providers to go to court to enforce the law’s directive that the reimbursement rates set by states be ‘sufficient to enlist enough providers…
Journal Wins Awards
The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society was recently honored with two Bronze Quill Awards presented by the Arkansas Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). The awards were in the category of writing and recognized two journal feature articles, both written by head journal writer,…
SGR Action and Claims Hold Update
"Very early on the morning of March 27, after completing a lengthy round of votes on the budget resolution, a handful of Senators blocked efforts to reach agreement on the rules for debate on H.R. 2, the “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act,” which passed the House on…
U.S. Senate’s failure to move Medicare forward causes more uncertainty for our nation’s patients
“The American Medical Association (AMA) is extremely disappointed that the U.S. Senate did not vote on the Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MICRA) before leaving for recess today. Their failure to act leaves physicians facing a devastating 21 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements when the current Sustainable Growth…
U.S. House overwhelmingly passes legislation to permanently repeal the SGR
We've never been so close! Just moments ago, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation that would permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula before the current Medicare payment patch expires on March 31. Now it's the U.S. Senate's turn to act, and time is…
ACTION NEEDED ON FEDERAL LEGISLATION
This is not a test. Repeat: This is not a test. Serious movement is underway in Congress to permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) before the March 31 deadline; repeal legislation, H.R. 1470/S. 810 is expected on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives next week.…
House leaders unveil draft bill to repeal SGR
Congressional leaders are all but predicting the final product will win enough support from both parties to move this year. Congressional leaders on Thursday released a bipartisan bill to permanently repeal Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula. Most media analyses note that while there is broad, bipartisan support for…
Meaningful use attestation deadline extended
Physicians now have an additional three weeks, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on March 20, to attest to meaningful use for the 2014 reporting year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extended the deadline to allow physicians extra time to submit their meaningful use data. Physicians…