The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has acknowledged the tremendous administrative burden physicians bear for documenting office visits for evaluation and management (E/M), states the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). There are five levels of E/M visits with AMA-copyrighted codes, each requiring a set of “bullet points” in the record of […]
The growing Direct Primary Care (DPC) model is allowing patients and doctors to design their own “healthcare reform.” In exchange for a membership fee, patients receive timely access to unhurried visits, personalized care, and a range of other items that might include laboratory testing and medications, explains the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). […]
July 13, 2018 Comments in Response to Request for Information (RFI) on HHS Blueprint to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Costs (CMS-2018-0075). Dear Secretary Azar: Thank you for this opportunity to submit comments in response to the HHS Request for Information on the Blueprint to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Costs. We applaud […]
July 10, 2018 Dear Chairman Brady, Ranking Member Neal, and Members of the House Committee on Ways and Means, We are writing today concerning bills that will be marked up by the committee on July 11. Overall, we are thankful for the committee’s dedication to expanding the flexibility of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for the […]
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been referred to as the top “Medicaid Fraud Dogg,” has announced an “historic” roundup of 601 doctors, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals, in a $2 billion bust. Fraud in Medicaid is indeed “stunning,” according to a report released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “But $2 billion is much […]
By Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD: Kudos to the folks in D.C. who are advancing alternatives to the Affordable Care Act’s over-regulated and expensive health insurance policies. Small business association health plans and expanding health savings accounts (HSAs) are among several tools to increase health care choices. However, one element in the medical care cost analysis […]
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and its partner specialty certification boards claim to be ensuring physician quality with their costly, time-devouring Maintenance of Certification® (MOC) programs. However, an updated review of their financial disclosures, commissioned by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), suggests that the main purpose of MOC is to […]
American physicians and patients need to be informing elected officials of serious problems with access to competent, ethical, affordable medical care. They cannot rely on the American Medical Association (AMA), which claims to speak for all physicians even though less than 15 percent of physicians are members, stated Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the […]
Americans may be more worried about the costs of a major illness than about the illness itself, writes Jeanne Pinder in the summer issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Prices for various procedures can vary by a factor of 20 or more. Pinder describes an award-winning project, ClearHealthCosts.com, that she and fellow […]
In searching for treatable causes of sky-high medical costs, both government and private entities are scrutinizing the cost of hospital supplies, writes Marilyn Singleton, M.D., J.D., in the summer issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Supplies account for an average 15 percent of total costs, and as much as 40 percent. About […]