Index 2008: AMNews editorials

January - February - March - April - May - 2007 index

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Improvements on patient safety rules
With a new law in place, regulations are now needed so doctors can report mistakes voluntarily without fear of prosecution. - May 19

Readying for the senior surge
A new IOM report echoes the AMA's concern that the health care work force is not ready to care for aging baby boomers. - May 12

Ohio lifts the veil on insurer contracts
The state's new, sweeping law on health plan contracts sends a message that "take it or leave it" approaches by health insurers are not acceptable in physician negotiations. - May 5

House call on Congress
Physician activism and involvement through the AMA National Advocacy Conference amplify key messages -- for now and for medicine's future. - April 28

Legal muscle in the doctor's corner
The Litigation Center of the AMA and State Medical Societies is the medical profession's wide-ranging advocate in the courts. - April 21

Breathing room on Medicare payment
The American Medical Association backs a bill to replace scheduled physician payment cuts with increases. - April 14

Keeping an eye on United
Nevada's formation of a physician advisory council in the wake of a health plan merger gives doctors a chance to scrutinize UnitedHealth Group's conduct. - April 7

Question for patients: What's in your medicine chest?
Prescription drug abuse is a serious public health threat. Urging patients to take steps to protect their medicines is an important way to control it. - March 24/31

Making the case for caps in tort reform
An AMA review of independent research provides a detailed look at the effects of liability award caps. - March 17

Cuomo's reasonable investigation into health plan pricing
New York takes on United over an allegedly rigged system for pricing services by out-of-network physicians. - March 10

Growing pains for UnitedHealth Group
California regulators say plenty went wrong after a United mega-merger was given the go-ahead. - March 3

Matters of the heart
Even though it is the No. 1 killer in the United States, heart disease continues to be a subject surrounded by misconceptions. - Feb. 25

Path to better relations between medical staffs and hospitals
AMA principles can help prevent further deterioration between hospital governing bodies and their physician staffs. - Feb. 18

AMA campaigns for the uninsured
The AMA Voice for the Uninsured initiative has gone nationwide in its effort to encourage political candidates and voters to focus on the issue. - Feb. 11

Stronger action needed against tobacco
Despite progress in some areas, government oversight of smoking is slipping. FDA regulation of tobacco, and more funding of prevention programs, is necessary to ensure that the use of cigarettes is extinguished. - Feb. 4

The health literacy deficit
New Senate legislation would provide much-needed tools to address this continuing health problem. - Jan. 28

Looking beyond the Medicare pay patch
A reprieve provides a small window to stave off an enormous Medicare pay cut for doctors. - Jan. 21

Time to pinch off the salt
The AMA calls on the FDA to revoke salt's "generally recognized as safe" status to allow more regulation of sodium in food. - Jan. 14

Spreading the risk
Risk-based subsidies are the answer to the question of how to make sure that high-risk patients are included in any health insurance reform. - Jan. 7

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