The fight between providers and Medicare Advantage (MA) plans over prior authorization is heating up as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) continue their appeals to government agencies to take action against plans.
Last Friday, the American Hospital Association asked the Centers for...
The official number of global deaths from COVID-19 surpassed six million on Monday, 4% of which were recorded in the last month. The United States is very close to reaching a million deaths on its own, and Arizona's death count exceeded the 28,000 marker this week.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) COVID-19...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will give physician groups participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) additional time to apply for a waiver that will allow their data to be re-weighted to account for the impacts of COVID-19 and the surge in cases related to the Omicron variant. CMS has assured...National News
As drug overdose deaths continue to rise, leaders from the American Medical Association (AMA) and Manatt Health released a new toolkit this week focused on strategies for ending the nation’s drug overdose epidemic. Arizona lawmakers had a few mentions in the report for successful legislative efforts to combat the opioid...National News
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted unanimously last Thursday to support a recommendation of no change to the physician fee schedule for 2023. Stakeholders and industry advocates immediately responded with frustration.
In 2020, Medicare paid $64.8 billion to 1.3 million clinicians, which was lower overall than...
On Wednesday, September 29, there were 3,388 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona and 39 new COVID-19-related deaths. Deaths are reported by actual date of death. For intensive care unit beds, only 8% remain available statewide, with 30% of ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
This information can be found on the Arizona...
On Monday, August 23, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine will now be marketed under the name Comirnaty and will be available to prevent the disease in individuals 16 years and older. For now, the vaccine will remain under emergency use authorization (EUA) for...
This week the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 set a record with 1,900 pediatric cases in hospitals across the United States on Sunday night. The Delta variant's rapid spread is to blame, primarily among unvaccinated populations which include children under age 12.
Of all hospitalizations, children comprise just 2.4%...
Across the board, medical groups, hospitals and health care personnel are requesting institutional vaccination mandates for healthcare workers as the Delta variant spread increases case counts and hospitalizations nationwide.
The American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) were joined by 58 other...Arizona News
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey released a few highlights of the Arizona State Budget following its passage on June 30th, including a number of "Health and Wellness" points. But many stakeholders are unhappy with holes in the budget that fail to address health concerns and interfere with COVID-19 recovery.
Protecting Arizonans' health and...
Arizona came in tenth place in a national study by The Senior List for best states for nursing professionals in 2021; Arizona is expected to see up to 50% growth in nursing professions over the next decade.
The study compared salary, wage, employment and housing data for each state to determine which ones are most favorable for...
As the healthcare world continues to focus on social determinants of health and racial health disparities, researchers are connecting the dots, showing how societal forces of discrimination contribute to unequal health outcomes.
The journal Ethnicity & Disease recently released an extensive, multi-faceted analysis of the...
Last year, in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, the AMA called for an end to police brutality and for uniform training, transparency in reporting, and accountability for law enforcement. The AMA House of Delegates also recognized the detrimental public health consequences of violent law enforcement interactions and adopted policy...National Reports & Surveys
The payment gap between independent and hospital-employed doctors is significant. The average gaps were $63,000 for primary care doctors, $178,000 for medical specialists and $150,000 for surgeons.
Based on Medicare claims data from 2010-2016, research found that the program's payments for doctors' work were $114,000 higher per...Arizona News
Last week, the American Medical Association released the 19th iteration of its recurring report on health insurance in the U.S., revealing dwindling competition among insurers across the country.
The report found that 74% of American health care markets are highly concentrated, meaning they are largely dominated by a small...CMS Rules
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are asking for more support from the Trump administration amid the pandemic. ACOs want more time to decide on whether to voluntarily exit the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) as coronavirus-related financial losses and balance sheet deficits pile up.
With payments tied to spending and...Arizona News
On Thursday, April 30, CMS announced it will more than double the reimbursement for telephone consultations to match those for office and outpatient visits.
The new rule increases payments for audio-only telephone consultations from $14-$41 to about $46-$110 as part of a broad package of federal waivers and flexibilities to...National News
Many see an increased focus on social determinants of health (SDOH) as a promising strategy to a more efficient and effective healthcare system. But the first step is better data.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is considering releasing potentially enlightening SDOH data they’ve collected as a part...National News
Changes in Medicaid payment and system-delivery reforms to establish value-based care are putting more pressure on clinical practices. Will they choose to assume more risk with the new initiatives?
Practices serving Medicaid populations already assume financial risk. Medicaid models implemented in states across the country are now...
