Index 2007: AMNews editorials

Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec - 2006 - 2008

How do I contact the AMNews Washington office? Here's the contact info.

Prescribing a more active life
A new effort launched by the AMA and American College of Sports Medicine urges physicians to take every opportunity to encourage their patients to exercise more. - Dec. 24/31

AMA's plan for 2008
The American Medical Association lays out strategies to improve the environment in which physicians and patients operate and offers tools for their everyday lives. - Dec. 17

Tax credits for EMRs
The new AMA policy aims to address cost concerns that have kept many physicians from buying health information technology. - Dec. 10

Putting the quality in rankings
An agreement between the New York attorney general and Cigna promises to curtail flawed systems that rank physicians more on cost than on care. - Dec. 3

Heeding the MRSA warning
A new study offers national estimates of this infection's reach -- and a wake-up call. - Nov. 26

Repair student loan repayment law
A federal legislative change in how medical school graduates repay their loans leaves residents in a financial pinch. - Nov. 19

Longer view on drug safety: New power in FDA law
The AMA worked to make sure the new law improves prescription drug safety without interfering with doctors' professional judgment. - Nov. 12

Medicare Advantage: Wrong way to spend $54 billion
Legislation must be passed that eliminates Medicare Advantage insurer subsidies as a means to sustain access to care for all seniors. - Nov. 5

Don't duck the flu shot
It's the beginning of the annual flu season, and physicians and other health workers should be the first to step forward for the vaccine. - Oct. 22/29

Addressing health care costs -- the right way
The AMA has put forward four broad strategies to reduce health care spending and improve value. - Oct. 15

Restaurant menus: Reveal the calories
As Americans eat out more frequently, it's important for chain restaurants to provide customers with nutrition information in menus and on menu boards. - Oct. 8

Prescription for confusion
Congress needs to give physicians more time to comply with an anti-prescription fraud law -- as well as limit the law's scope - Oct. 1

The uninsured: A campaign for action
Striking new census figures on the uninsured debut at the same time as an AMA campaign to work for a solution. - Sept. 24

Reining in rankings for tiered and narrow networks
Organized medicine has joined lawsuits to nip bad performance measurement programs in the bud. And in New York, the state attorney general has warned several insurers about their programs. - Sept. 17

Protect health access for kids, seniors
The AMA is urging quick passage of legislation that would renew SCHIP and prevent Medicare physician payment cuts. - Sept. 10

Federal prompt-pay law: A path to timely reimbursement
Health insurers often flout the spirit and the letter of state legislation requiring them to pay physicians within a certain number of days. A tough national law is a way to ensure that such conduct ceases. - Sept. 3

Autism and vaccine safety: Courtroom controversy, exam room reassurance
Physicians should be poised to help parents maintain confidence in this public health accomplishment in preventive medicine. - Aug. 27

Dr. Pou's plight: Heroic actions, harrowing aftermath
The New Orleans case shows the importance of protecting physicians who volunteer in disaster or emergency situations. - Aug. 20

Veterinarians and physicians: Working together for one medicine
The AMA and the American Veterinary Medical Assn. are collaborating on the One Health Initiative as human and animal medicine join forces to fight existing and emerging zoonotic diseases. - Aug. 13

Right response to wrong incentives
The AMA adopts a more aggressive stance concerning questionable pay-for-performance plans. - Aug. 6

Quality must come first in retail health clinics
As these facilities emerge, organized medicine is working to ensure that patients are protected. - July 23/30

Doing what's best to prepare for the worst
The AMA launches a new journal on public health preparedness and disaster response. - July 16

A new tool against childhood obesity
An AMA-convened expert commission offers recommendations to doctors about how to assess, treat and prevent excess pounds for their young patients. - July 9

Getting aboard SCHIP
The legislation -- and the funding -- of the State Children's Health Insurance Program needs to be high on the nation's agenda. And doctors can do their part, too. - July 2

TB on a plane
Recent news stories of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis highlight why there is no room for complacency when it comes to infectious diseases. - June 25

Fighting back against frivolous lawsuits
Physicians are contesting attorneys who file meritless lawsuits. When doctors win, it is good for those who deliver care and those who receive -- and pay for -- it. - June 18

Medicare health plans' unfair advantage
Medicare Advantage plans should not be getting subsidies while physicians face massive payment cuts. - June 11

Health plan class-action settlements: Trust, without the expiration date
Insurers must commit -- for the long term -- to an open and honest relationship with doctors. - June 4

New thinking about flu vaccination
Prospects for increased influenza vaccine production are leading to more and different strategies to increase its uptake. - May 28

Physician pay cuts no solution to Medicare Part B problems
The AMA calls for a stop to reimbursement cuts in the near term and innovative answers for the whole program in the long term. - May 21

United's fine mess: A way to alienate physicians
Many physicians are outraged about a policy sanctioning doctors for referrals to out-of-network labs. - May 14

Roadmap for health IT
Cost and privacy issues must be addressed if lawmakers want to encourage physicians to invest in technology -- and fulfill its promise. - May 7

Reducing underage drinking: Surgeon general issues Call for Action
Making inroads against this continuing epidemic will require action at all levels of society -- from government officials and educators to teachers, physicians and even adolescents, says the surgeon general. - April 23/30

UnitedHealth Group-Sierra merger a bad deal
In a decade, the Dept. of Justice has approved 400 mergers, and only two had conditions attached. It's time to stop health plan consolidation. - April 16

Joining forces for patient safety
The AMA and AARP partner on a patient-safety initiative that stresses how a better patient-physician relationship can produce better care. - April 9

Dump -- don't expand -- the SGR
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has offered two paths to reforming Medicare physician payment, but only one is viable. - April 2

The FDA and tobacco control: New hope for action
With bipartisan legislation reintroduced in both the House and Senate and a Democratic majority in Congress, public health advocates hope that the push to empower the FDA to regulate tobacco products might be passed. - March 26

Dr. Nathan Davis Award: AMA honors outstanding public servants
The AMA's Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service is a celebration of officials who have made a difference. - March 19

Time to pass mental health parity
The AMA is part of a coalition that supports new Senate legislation to close some gaps in the law requiring equal insurance coverage for mental illness. - March 12

E-prescribing stumbling blocks
The fits and starts of electronic prescribing systems show why their use and development should be encouraged but not mandated. - March 5

Shoring up the drug safety system
The Food and Drug Administration offers a new vision for safeguarding the nation's pharmaceutical products to protect the public health. - Feb. 26

Covering the uninsured: Working from common ground
The continuing problem of uninsured Americans was thrust into the national spotlight as influential groups, including the AMA, came together to lay out a plan to insure more people. - Feb. 19

An honor for AMNews
The newspaper's recognition as an outstanding media brand reflects quality, performance and success in meeting readers' needs. - Feb. 12

Tobacco control: A long way to go
The public health imperative is to push for adequate funding for smoking cessation and prevention programs. - Feb. 5

AMA's advocacy agenda: Helping doctors help patients
Covering the uninsured and Medicare reform are among the major priorities for 2007. - Jan. 29

Medicare crisis avoided, but hard work ahead
Congress prevented a 5% cut in physician reimbursement for this year. Now it must pass permanent payment reform. - Jan. 22

Crisis for nation's EDs
The AMA recommends several strategies to tackle the emerging trauma services calamity. - Jan. 15

Plans drive doctors to tiers
Insurers should not use economic criteria to rate physicians. - Jan. 1/8

Last year's index - Back to top.