Your Weekly Dose of Health December 2, 2016

** As you may be aware, step therapy, or “fail first” legislation, A.2834D (Titone) / S.3419C (Young), passed the NYS Senate and Assembly in the final week of the Legislative Session. Please take the time to call Governor Cuomo at 518-474-8390 and urge him to sign this legislation into law, as it’s in the best interest of New York patients and providers! Click here for more information on step therapy.

 

National News:

  • President-elect Donald Trump nominated Congressman Tom Price to be Health Secretary. A six term Congressman representing suburban parts of Atlanta, Mr. Price has been a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act and has, during his tenure, introduced bills to replace President Obama’s signature health law.
  • Congressional Republicans are planning to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act in early 2017, but delay its effective date for as many as three years.
  • As of the fourth week of open enrollment, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that more than 2.1 million people have chosen health plans using healthcare.gov. This number does not include people in states like New York that have set up their own exchanges.

State News:

  • Governor Cuomo this week announced a series of new initiatives to combat AIDS and HIV, such as eliminating barriers to testing, increasing access to treatment and expanding research.
  • Governor Cuomo this week also announced $3.8 million in funding for initiatives aimed at combatting heroin and opioid addiction.
  • The Department of Health announced that chronic pain will become a qualifying condition for medical marijuana use.

City News:

  • New York City’s hospitals are spending more and more on construction, having spent more than $6 billion between 2013 and 2015. It is expected that city hospitals will spend a total of $8.2 billion on construction between 2016 and 2018.

Upcoming Events:

  • NYSHealth, The New York Academy of Medicine and NYU Langone Medical Center’s Department of Population Health are sponsoring the fourth annual Population Health Summit on December 12th.
  • Click here for upcoming meetings, hearings and events from the state Department of Health.