JANUARY 18, 2018
Many Georgia prescribers miss pill-tracking deadline (quotes MAG CEO)
AJC
A third of Georgia’s physicians and half of the state’s dentists failed to meet the Jan. 1 deadline to register for the state’s prescription drug monitoring program, a crucial tool in the state’s effort to combat the opioid crisis. READ MORE
Ever received a 'surprise' bill from a doctor? A Georgia lawmaker wants that to stop
The Telegraph
A Georgia state House member says he wants to put an end to so-called "surprise" medical bills — charges of hundreds or thousands of dollars that arrive after someone visits an out-of-network doctor without meaning to. | READ MORE
Informed consent should be an ethical imperative – a minimum one – in medical care costs (mentions MAG)
The Ledger-Inquirer
The unpleasant “surprise” of after-the-fact medical bills, some of them astronomical, for care that patients thought was covered by their insurance has become one of the burdens of a health care establishment that is outrageously burdensome already. | READ MORE
Flu slams Georgia, nation as season appears to peak
Georgia Health News
Five Georgians have died from the flu, which has also led to more than 300 hospitalizations in metro Atlanta this season, state officials report. | READ MORE
CDC officials say there's spot shortage of drug used to treat flu
WSB-TV
A group of the nation’s top flu experts is issuing a new warning about this dangerous flu season. | READ MORE
Columbus Regional restricts hospital visits for those with flu-like symptoms
The Ledger-Inquirer
This is the flu season and it’s shaping up to be a particularly nasty one. That’s why Columbus Regional Health, which operates Midtown Medical Center, said Monday it is urging all non-family visitors and anyone with possible flu-like symptoms to stay away “until further notice.” | READ MORE
Smoking penalties, ER fees, premiums on the poor: How states want to shrink Medicaid
The Washington Post
Indiana hopes to make Medicaid enrollees pay a fee if they smoke cigarettes. Arizona wants to put a five-year limit on how long its poor residents can be enrolled in the program. And Kentucky wants families earning as little as $5,100 to pay Medicaid premiums — and to kick patients out of the program if their payments get 60 days behind. | READ MORE
Kentucky governor readies for Medicaid legal challenge
The Associated Press
Kentucky's Republican governor says he will shut down the state's expanded Medicaid program, denying its coverage to more than 400,000 people, if the courts stop his plan for some people to work to keep their health benefits. | READ MORE
Mr. Azar goes back to Washington
Modern Healthcare
It's a propitious time, at least for conservatives, for Alex Azar to take the top job at HHS. All elements have aligned for him to mold the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and Medicare according to a vision they can support. | READ MORE
Tom Price [M.D.] to advise Jackson Healthcare
Georgia Health News
Dr. Tom Price, largely out of the public eye since resigning as U.S. health secretary, has been named to the advisory board of an Alpharetta-based company. | READ MORE
Drug therapy discovered at MCG being used to treat rare form of brain cancer in children
The Augusta Chronicle
Of the kids playing and running around the room inside the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, it is impossible to pick out Kaiden Morrell, 9, as the one whose brain harbored a rare and deadly tumor. | READ MORE
Popular A&E series chronicles opioid epidemic in metro Atlanta
CBS46 News
The popular A&E television series "Intervention" is chronicling the opioid epidemic in metro Atlanta, an area that has one of the highest percentages of deaths from heroin overdoses in the entire nation. | READ MORE
Advertise with MAG: Please contact Tom Kornegay at 678.303.9260 or tkornegay@mag.org if you are interested in running an ad in the Georgia Pulse, which is a weekly compilation of media reports that are related to health care and the medical profession. It is sent to more than 6,000 physicians in Georgia.
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