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JUNE 8, 2017
Blue Cross Blue Shield wants people in Georgia to self-diagnose before heading to the ER (features MAG CEO)
The Intercept
Blue Cross Blue Shield is quietly telling its individual market patients in Georgia that it will stop reimbursing some emergency room visits. | READ MORE
Emergency physicians: Georgia Blue Cross Blue Shield policy violates federal law
American College of Emergency Physicians
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and its Georgia Chapter today said a policy that Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBS) plans to implement in July, making subscribers pay for any emergency department visit that turns out not to be an emergency, violates the "prudent layperson" standard, which is codified in federal law, including the Affordable Care Act. | READ MORE
[MAG member Dr.] Kay Kirkpatrick, Georgia’s newest state senator, takes her seat
AJC
Georgia state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, has officially been sworn into office after a spirited battle that lasted through a runoff election last month. | READ MORE
Opinion: MACRA's cure may be worse than the disease (features The Physicians Foundation)
Forbes
Medicare’s physician reimbursement policy has yielded some unintended consequences –proving to be an area of continual concern for federal policymakers. | READ MORE
AMA tackles sex abuse – of doctors, by doctors
AJC
The American Medical Association will no longer tolerate sexual misconduct by physicians – at least if their victims are other doctors, and if the abuse occurs at an AMA event. | READ MORE
Kaiser Permanente again rated top plan in region
Georgia Health News
Kaiser Permanente of Georgia remains the highest-rated health plan in its region for the eighth straight year, according to the J.D. Power study of health plans in the United States. | READ MORE
Omen for Georgia? Insurer Anthem quitting Ohio exchange
Georgia Health News
The parent company of Georgia’s biggest health insurer is exiting Ohio’s health insurance exchange for 2018. | READ MORE
Where are the most Georgians uninsured?
WABE
After House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act last month, uncertainty permeated the health care debate for many. For some, like the more than 1 million people in Georgia without health insurance, that uncertainty has been a fact of life for a lot longer than the last few weeks. | READ MORE
GOP health bill would hit children hard, study says
Georgia Health News
Most of the debate on the GOP health care legislation in Congress has focused on how it would affect adults, in high-profile areas such as coverage, mandates, and premiums. | READ MORE
‘This is a poison, and it acts very fast,’ sheriff says of toxic street drug that’s hit Middle Georgia (features MAG)
The Telegraph
A toxic street drug has been linked to dozens of hospitalizations for overdoses and up to four deaths in Middle Georgia in the last two days, health officials say. | READ MORE
[City of Madison] gets ‘miracle drug’ (features MAG Foundation)
Morgan County Citizen
The City of Madison Police Department was recently awarded a $750 grant through the Medical Association of Georgia to fund the supply of Narcan, a nasal spray form of naloxone for emergency treatments of opioid overdose. | READ MORE
Georgia legislature to study distracted driving in state
WABE
Georgia's House Speaker David Ralston has created a study committee to look at distracted driving in the state. | READ MORE
Bill introduced to combat Medicaid beneficiary 'churn'
McKnights
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation aimed at reducing beneficiary “churn” in the Medicaid program. | 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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