Category: Advocacy
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STUDY: Does Capping Residency Hours Hamper Physician Training?
When new rules capped training hours for medical residents at 80 hours per week in 2003, critics worried that the change would leave physicians-in-training unprepared for the challenges of independent practice. Now, new research published July 11 in BMJ and led by scientists in the Department of Health Care Policy in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard…
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Senate Committee Tackles Surprise Billing
The Senate Health Committee finally passed a major health care package, which could bring an end to surprise billing for patients by capping out-of-network charges at a rate already negotiated by insurers. However, the legislation could see more changes before it sees a full Senate vote. Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)…
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Trump Executive Order Seeks to Put Patients First
With high health care costs now a rare bipartisan issue and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanding action, President Trump issued an executive order on June 25 to increase transparency in hospital prices, physician fees and other health care providers to disclose more information about their billing and pricing. Read the Executive Order…
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Can We Fix Alabama’s Rural Physician Shortage?
It takes up to 10 years to train a physician. That decade of training is just one contributing factor for the reason the United States is facing a serious shortage of physicians. Other factors include the growth and aging of the population and the impending retirements of older physicians. While medical schools have increased enrollment…
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Federal Judge Rules FDA Acted Illegally in Delaying Required Review of E-Cigarettes, Cigars
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a major victory for America’s kids and public health, a federal judge has ruled that, in August 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted illegally by allowing e-cigarettes to remain on the market until 2022 before applying for FDA authorization and by permitting products to remain on the market indefinitely during…
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A Review of Alabama’s Human Life Protection Act
UPDATE MAY 24, 2019: Lawsuit filed to block abortion ban. A federal lawsuit filed Friday, May 24, asks a judge to block Alabama’s law that outlaws almost all abortions, the most far-reaching attempt by a conservative state to seek new restrictions on the procedure. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit on behalf…
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For the First Time, Employed Physicians Outnumber Self-Employed
CHICAGO — For the first time in the United States, employed physicians outnumber self-employed physicians, according to a newly updated study on physician practice arrangements by the American Medical Association. This milestone marks the continuation of a long-term trend that has slowly shifted the distribution of physicians away from ownership of private practices. Employed physicians were 47.4…
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An Update on Alabama’s Certificate of Need Program
Over the past few months, we have seen some changes and movement when it comes to the certificate of need (“CON”) program in the State of Alabama. In February, Emily Marsal was appointed as the new Executive Director of the State Health Planning and Development Agency (“SHPDA”), the state agency overseeing the CON program. Emily comes…