Update 3/22/2020: It appears that the flawed language has been removed from consideration! Now it is time to ask the Senate to ADD good language from S. 3112, the Personalized Care Act. Please contact your Senators ASAP with the following request: Please include S. 3112, the Personalized Care Act in the upcoming bill to address […]
Dear AAPS Members and Friends, Capitol Hill appears to be implementing their rule, “never let a good crisis go to waste.” Early Saturday morning, at 12:51 AM, Speaker Pelosi forced a vote on a 110-page bill, the text of which was made available less than an hour earlier, at 11:57pm Friday night. The bill passed and is now […]
Dear AAPS Members and Friends, The Maine legislature is considering a bill, LD 2117, that would significantly expand the state’s Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program into a database of EVERY prescription dispensed to EVERY patient in the state. The bill language states: “No later than January 1, 2021, the department shall expand the program to include […]
The Good News: After you, your colleagues, and patients spoke out last month, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) scrappedplans to impose a minimum 10-business-day wait on patients seeking non-emergency care from an out-of-network physician at any hospital or surgery center in the state of Texas. The Bad News: The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) stepped in and imposed a similar […]
Because you helped speak out — and in spite of fierce opposition by those in the health care swamp who benefit from opacity — the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized rules proposed by President Trump that, beginning in 2021, will give patients access to actual prices for care at hospitals. Astronomical […]
Dear AAPS Members and Friends, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is continuing down a dangerous path of policies that deem practitioners who have far less rigorous training to somehow be equal to physicians. It is critical that you take advantage of an opportunity to share your thoughts about this with the agency. Comments […]
Please take time ASAP to speak out against bills that claim to address surprise medical bills but in reality hand control to insurers and reduce patient access to independent physicians. Proponents of these dangerous bills are looking to sneak them into upcoming end of year spending bills. The good news is that most Americans already […]
NO To New Jersey Assembly Bill A5369 & S3816!Following the example of Congress, the NJ Legislature has introduced a “Patient Protection Act” (A5369 / S3816) that is anything but protective of patient rights. According to NJ Spotlight, “the proposal has drawn criticism from patient advocates and other healthcare experts who suggest that, in an effort to […]
STOP the Texas Medical Board from Forcing Patients to Wait Before Receiving Medical Care from Independent Physicians! Earlier this year the Texas legislature passed legislation (SB 1264) purporting to address an issue caused by non-payment by insurance companies, which has been mislabeled as a problem of “surprise” medical bills. The real “surprise” is that insurance […]
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed solutions that implement President Trump’s Executive Order to encourage hospital price transparency. While more fundamental reforms are needed for lasting change, it is past time to shine some sunlight on the secret prices that hospitals and health plans try to keep hidden from patients. Since […]