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CMS has announced that Medicare Part D and Medicaid will now cover the weight loss drug Wegovy for patients with obesity who have preexisting heart disease and need the drug to prevent heart disease or strokes. With Medicaid states can require patients to undergo step therapy or prior authorization prior to access the drug for this condition. It has been shown that Wegovy significantly reduced the amount of stroke or cardiac disease as compared to standard of care treatment alone.
An executive order was signed to expand women's health care. This included some research only.
The MedPac reported to Congress recommended a 50% inflationary update for physician services in 2025. This sounds good but is actually woefully under funded. This will make physician funding even farther behind increased in providing care. More physicians will now go to the waiting arms of hospitals or other private brokers to get paid more. This will increase the cost of proving care by fed med and others.
CMS has announced a new ACO plan when providers are ditching the old plans. The new scheme is a 5 year voluntary model to begin in 2025 and will target primary care providers.
Medicare and Medicaid made over $100 Billion in improper payments in 2023. Think if this had been a private corporation, what would happen to the execs. Here nothing as the payers have no skin in the game only we taxpayers do.
A new Medicare scan has arisen. It involves urinary catheters that are used for incontinence. There has been a surge of bills for the intermittent catheters even though they are not needed. The reason is the idiotic thought that these catheters need to be single use. This has never been true. It is not true now. Top
Three stories regarding the downfall of physician independence.
Doctors may start to realize that they are fungible items just like doodads. They have lost their meaning as individual and now do the corporate bidding. This is the background for Optum now purchasing the large Steward physician group in 9 states. The physicians have no choice and will now serve a different corporate master.
In Corvallis, Oregon, Optum has not only stopped taking new patients but is shedding many of those who are already being treated. The reason is that they are losing physicians and have not replaced them. They are however continuing to purchase physician groups across the state.
Intermountain Health has closed its Saltzer Health physicin group in two places in Idaho. This meant that almost 400 people were laid off in the two locations. Some of the physicians will open their own independent offices and others????
Dr. Julio Clavijo-Alvarez of Miami, Florida is being investigated by the Florida Medical Board after he received three public complaints relating to his allegedly mishandling aesthetic procedures.
South Korea is threatening to sue the junior physicians who are now on strike if they do not return to work. They do not want the government to admit drastically more medical students to the universities per year. The government wants to do this in order to have enough physicians in the predicted 10 year window. The country has a very few physicians per population with an aging population. The physicians are paid by the government and feel their pay is too low now and will be even lower if the new physicians are admitted. If they do not return by the deadline they will lose their licenses for three months. The government also has refused to accept any physician resignations. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the information presented.