Tag Archive: American Medical Association

It’s AMA v. AARP as Senate votes on docs’ Medicare fees

by Nancy Watzman

investigations

Mar 31, 2014 10:24 am

Doctors face a big cut in Medicare fees today, so the Senate, in what's become an annual ritual, scheduled a vote to spare them. The AMA urges a "no" vote, while AARP wants a "yes" - who will win?

Doctors turn lobbying effort to Senate to preserve Medicare pay

by Nancy Watzman

investigations

Mar 19, 2014 1:30 pm

When the Senate returns to Washington next week, doctors will be at the door — and not to administer CPR.

Feds have no policy on posting meetings

by Nancy Watzman

investigations

Sep 26, 2013 7:13 am

While the federal government has extensive rules about how its regulatory agencies makes rules--with notices, publication schedules and comment periods--there is no government-wide policy for providing information to the public about meetings between executive branch officials and private interests. These contacts between regulators those seeking to influence them--refered to as ex parte meetings--can have a profound effect on the final shape of the rules that govern everything from disposing of trash to disclosing positions in complex derivatives. Yet there is no uniform requirement to make information about these meetings available to the public, let alone whether or not agencies must ...

Wall Street Journal sues for access to Medicare records

by Bill Allison

investigations

Jan 25, 2011 2:56 pm

The Wall Street Journal announced today that it's suing for access to data on payments that doctors receive from Medicare, which has been exempt from public disclosure thanks to a 1979 court case won by the American Medical Association. The Journal argues that absent data on the payments, it's impossible for journalists or members of the public to tell which doctors are billing the system improperly. "It's time to overturn an injunction that, for decades, has allowed some doctors to defraud Medicare free from public scrutiny," Mark Jackson, the counsel for Dow Jones, the Journal's immediate ...