FHIweekly 1/19/23: Providers press CMS on prior authorization + An inside look at how NFL medical teams prepare for a game day emergency

January 19, 2023 | Volume XIV | Issue 3

Providers Press CMS on Prior Authorization

Robert King repots for Fierce Healthcare:

Several provider groups pressed Medicare officials Tuesday to install several proposed reforms to prior authorization, including mandating an electronic process for plans to approve requests.

Leadership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) held a roundtable Tuesday with medical groups on reforming prior authorization in government programs such as Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and the Affordable Care Act’s exchange plans. The roundtable comes roughly a month after...

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California Physicians Are Now Penalized for Clinical Opinions with the Enactment of the California COVID-19 Misinformation Law

California’s “COVID-19 misinformation” law went into effect on January 1, 2023. The purpose of the law is to prevent the spread of false or misleading information, in other words, the most used word of the pandemic era, “misinformation” relating to COVID-19 by physicians during direct patient care.

So, what does the law mean?

What we do know is that the law is a vague, a no-no in the legal world. We know that patient care is now at risk. The law penalizes physicians who express any sort of doubt or concern about what the government, influential public figures or friends and family are informing their patients on concerning COVID-19. The law effectively prohibits informed consent by preventing physicians from talking to their patients about the risks and benefits of treatments for a disease that is brand new to the world. How will California patients make informed decisions on the issue? Not with full and free input by physicians! We also know the law arguably interferes with free speech, severely squashing 1st Amendment freedom that used to be near and dear to our nation.

ER on the field: An inside look at how NFL medical teams prepare for a game day emergency

Nadia Kounang and Amanda Sealy report for CNN:

When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin dropped to the ground from a cardiac arrest earlier this month, help was by his side in under 10 seconds to administer CPR.

It wasn’t coincidence or luck. Rather, it’s the result of careful planning and practice – the execution of detailed choreography performed by the medical personnel present at every National Football League game.

Price of new Alzheimer's drug will make it out of reach for many

Fox News via YouTube

An estimated 6.5 million Americans over the age of 65 are living with Alzheimer's but a new drug is giving some hope. The approval of lecanemab is a potential game changer in treating Alzheimer's disease. It's a monoclonal antibody treatment that just got accelerated approval from the FDA. But it comes at a hefty price.

Watch the video HERE.

Inside

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Publisher of Week in Review, Specialty Focus, FHIweekly & Game Changers