Medicaid Primary Care Payment Error
Physicians who have attested to participate in the "enhanced" Medicaid primary care payment project may have received a lessor amount than was expected due to an error in processing. The ACA contained a provision requiring state Medicaid programs to increase payments to primary care physicians for primary care…
Committee passes SGR repeal bill on Medicare’s 48th anniversary
Draft legislation to repeal Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula is moving forward in the U.S. House of Representatives following unanimous approval in committee markup Wednesday. The AMA is urging continued work to ensure the legislation will build a more sustainable health care system. The House Energy and…
Arkansas blazes trail implementing healthcare reform
(July 12, 2013) – Beginning Oct. 1, more than 500,000 Arkansans who are newly eligible for affordable health insurance under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act can choose the plan that best fits their budgets and family needs. The goal of the federal law, also known…
Dr. David Jacks Honored by UAMS
LITTLE ROCK — Dr. David Jacks, a highly respected Pine Bluff urologist and 1976 graduate of the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, recently received the college’s Distinguished Alumnus Service Award. He was recognized for his work on several UAMS projects and for…
AMS Welcomes 14 New Members
The physicians listed below have recently illustrated their commitment to improving health care in this community and our state by joining the Arkansas Medical Society. "As society members, these physicians are part of a statewide network of over 4,000 Arkansas physicians, residents and medical students, dedicated to protecting…
Dr. John Wilson Named UALR’s “2013 SpectacUALR Honoree”
Congratulations to long time AMS member, and past-president John L. Wilson, MD for being named the 2013 UALR SpectacULAR Honoree." Dr. Wilson spent 38 years at OrthoArkansas until his retirement in 2007. Two years ago, he missed treating patients and began working again at UAMS in orthopedic triage.…
Kids who undergo CT scans may face higher cancer risk later in life.
Article from the AMA Morning Rounds, 6-11-13 Research on the potential health risks of CT scans in children received moderate coverage in print and online, and on one of last night’s national news broadcasts. Although many sources portrayed the findings as alarming, they also pointed out that there…
House committee moves forward with plan to overhaul SGR
Article from the AMA Morning Rounds, 5/29/2013 A handful of beltway publications carry stories Wednesday on a new bill, out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which would permanently overhaul the oft-derided Medicare physician payment formula, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate or SGR. As the Washington…
ARKANSAS GENERAL ASSEMBLY GOES HOME AFTER LONGEST SESSION SINCE THE DEPRESSION; HEALTH CARE AND MEDICAID HIGHLIGHT THE SESSION
Health Law Bulletin from the Mitchell, Blackstock, Ivers and Sneddon law firm “Private option” is Arkansas’ answer to federal health care reform. In the longest legislative session since the early 1930’s, the Arkansas General Assembly passed legislation that will have an unprecedented impact on the Arkansas Medicaid program,…
Three New Laws With Immediate Impact
The 2013 meeting of the Arkansas Legislature will be remembered most for adopting the "private option," an innovative and game-changing alternative to expanding the Arkansas Medicaid program to persons making up to 138 percent of poverty. AMS played a major role in helping pass the private option, but…
Walgreens Policies
A number of weeks ago, AMS was advised by a number of physicians that Walgreens pharmacists were requesting ICD-9 codes, medical records and/or treatment plans before filling prescriptions for some medications. After further requests for information from our physicians, it became apparent that Walgreens had begun a new…