Your Weekly Dose of Health July 24, 2015

Time is running out! Encourage Governor Cuomo to sign the Prescriber Prevails legislation (A.7208/ S. 4893) for final passage by calling 518-362-8946 or filling out this form! This legislation clarifies the Prescriber Prevails process in Medicaid Managed Care and eliminates some of the hurdles that patients and prescribers must go through to make sure patients get the medications they need.

A recent report from Medicare’s board of trustees says the program will become insolvent by 2030.  This is the same conclusion the board reached last year.  In addition, some Medicare recipients could see their Medicare Part B premiums go up by as much as 52% in January according to the report.

The M.T.A. predicted that they will be hit with a $30 million “Cadillac tax” penalty in 2018.  The so called “Cadillac tax” is the Affordable Care Act’s tax on high cost health plans.  The tax is meant to help pay for the law as well as push employers toward less expensive options.

A study from the Brookings Institute shows that health information exchange technology has helped lower the number of duplicated tests in emergency departments.

An article in the New York Times this week looks at the effectiveness of medical marijuana for various conditions.

NY State of Health this week announced a partnership to promote Affordable Care Act coverage at New York State County Fairs.

An article from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation highlights three lessons the United States can learn from the other countries about public health.