Your Weekly Dose of Health October 14, 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:

  • Two years after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case to allow religious exemptions to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement on birth control coverage, very few companies or nonprofits have utilized it.
  • Enrollment in the ACA market place is likely to be flat or even decrease in 2017 due to rising premiums, according to an article in Bloomberg.
  • The U.S. uninsured rate is now at an all-time low, but according to a recent poll the public thinks the rate hasn’t changed at all.
  • An article in the New York Times includes the reflections of people who have benefited from the health care law.
  • Medicare announced an overhaul regarding how it compensates doctors and other health care professionals.

New York State News:

  • A new system for coding and classifying illnesses that all healthcare providers covered by HIPPA had to switch to is working out just fine, contrary to all the fears that preceded its beginning.
  • Open enrollment in New York’s health plan market place begins on November first.

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