"Health & Medical News"

Washington — Nearly 1,000 physicians convened in Washington, D.C., earlier this month to help lobby lawmakers on Medicare payment reform in the face of a tight timeline and an even tighter budget.

Although the American Medical Association’s National Advocacy Conference covered a range of health policy issues, its main focus was on patching the Medicare payment system that otherwise will cause a 10.6% reduction in doctor pay starting July 1. The event featured congressional speakers and an opportunity for more than 100 physician and medical student attendees to meet with lawmakers following an April 2 rally on Capitol Hill.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]

From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

Popularity: unranked [?]

From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

Popularity: unranked [?]

From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

Popularity: unranked [?]

From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

Popularity: unranked [?]

A bill under consideration in Kansas wouldn’t make medical marijuana legal, but could provide some legal protection to users facing charges of marijuana possession, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported Jan. 29.

The measure would allow judges to consider medical use as a defense if marijuana users presented documentation from a doctor about the drug’s medical benefits. It would not decriminalize or legalize marijuana possession, however.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Opponents and supporters of medical marijuana testified during a hearing in the Tennessee legislature this week, the Associated Press reported Nov. 13.

The Tennessee legislature rejected a medical-marijuana bill last year, but the House Health and Human Resources Committee this week heard testimony on a measure sponsored by Rep. Sherry Jones (D-Nashville). Opponents included doctors who said marijuana is not effective medicine and groups like the Family Action Council of Tennessee, which portrayed medical marijuana as a front for drug legalization.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Some Ohio lawmakers think they have the answer to the disparity between penalties for crack and powder cocaine offenses: make the powder penalties as harsh as those for crack.

The Associated Press reported Oct. 25 that the Ohio Senate unanimously passed a measure that equalizes penalties for possession and trafficking of crack and cocaine by increasing the penalties for the latter. The Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers had called upon lawmakers to end what was viewed as a racially biased disparity by lowering the crack penalties to match those for powdered cocaine.

Popularity: unranked [?]

A new survey finds that 70 percent of Americans support a bill in Congress that would add $35 million in new funding to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), but some observers say that public support is not strong enough to change the minds of lawmakers who back President Bush’s veto of the measure.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Washington’s 1998 medical-marijuana law legalizes possession of a 60-day supply of the drug, but doesn’t spell out exactly how much marijuana that amounts to, the Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 23.

As a result, state lawmakers are now requiring a definition of the standard dosage by July, and the state is holding hearings and gathering information from experts. “What has ended up happening is that in each county, law enforcement effectively decides what constitutes a 60-day supply, and in some counties, that amount has been set at zero,” said Alison Holcomb, marijuana education project director for the Washington chapter of the ACLU.? 

Popularity: 3% [?]