Category: Advocacy
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Physician Groups Issue Joint Statement in Support of Raising Alabama’s Legal Tobacco Age to 21
DOWNLOAD THE MEDIA RELEASE MONTGOMERY — The Medical Association of the State of Alabama, the Alabama Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Cardiology-Alabama Chapter, the Alabama Dermatology Society, and the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians have joined in support of legislation that would raise Alabama’s legal tobacco age from 19 to 21. “Research…
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ABMS Issues Statement about MOC Update
Following the Medical Association’s Annual Governmental Affairs Meeting in Washington earlier this week where Richard Hawkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Board of Medical Specialties, was a guest speaker, ABMS issued a statement as an update on the progress of issues of concern to physicians about Maintenance of Certification. Late last year, frustrations…
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Possible Government Shutdown with CHIP in the Balance?
Friday, Jan. 19: Government shutdowns are rare, with the last shutdown in 2013 that lasted 17 days. Even though the U.S. House passed legislation that would fund CHIP for six more years, the Senate may not approve the measure. In fact, Congress is facing the possibility of another government shutdown, which could leave health care…
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Medical Association Works to Ease MOC Frustrations
Frustrations with the current Maintenance of Certification process brought together Medical Association Executive Director Mark Jackson and Council on Medical Service member Jeff Rickert, M.D., and representatives from other state medical societies and individual specialty boards for a series of meetings with the American Board of Medical Specialties. The daylong meeting in Chicago was called at the…
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Medical Association’s 2018 State and Federal Agendas
The Medical Association Board of Censors has met and approved the Association’s 2018 State and Federal Agendas. These agendas were developed with guidance from the House of Delegates and input from individual physicians. As the Alabama Legislature and U.S. Congress begin their work for 2018, additional items affecting physicians, medical practices and patients may be…
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UPDATE: FCC Votes to Repeal Net Neutrality
UPDATE: On Dec. 14 the FCC voted 3-2 along party lines to repeal net neutrality regulations, handing a victory to telecom providers over the objections of tech companies including Netflix, Reddit and Etsy. Net neutrality regulations had prevented internet providers like Comcast and AT&T from blocking or slowing web traffic, or creating paid fast lanes. Instead,…
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Three Simple Steps for Increasing Medicine’s Influence
From the outside looking in, the political process likely seems as inviting as a shark tank, as navigable as a corn maze, as predictable as the Kentucky Derby. Intimidating, confusing and frustrating are often used by citizens to describe advocacy-related interactions with government and frankly, this isn’t surprising given most citizens’ level of understanding of…
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Legislative Update: What Happened This Week in Washington…
From President Trump’s new tax plan to renewed funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program to former President Obama’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, health care has been at the center of a lot of discussions this week on Capitol Hill. Vote Expected Today for CHIP — The House is expected to vote today to pass…
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Judge Rejects Bid to Revive ACA Subsidies
A federal judge has denied several states’ attempt to compel the Trump administration to continue paying cost-sharing reduction payments. Attorney generals from 18 states and the District of Columbia had filed a motion in the U.S. District Court seeking a temporary injunction that would reinstate the payments, which the administration decided to end earlier this…
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Tentative Bipartisan Deal Reached to Restore CSR Payments
Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate reached a bipartisan deal “in principle” to restore Obamacare cost-sharing reduction payments for two years in exchange for more state flexibility in the health care act. The proposed plan would also restore more than $100 million in funding for health care outreach. The bipartisan bill gained momentum later in…