Regulatory/Legislative News

The HHS has granted almost $500 million in Affordable Care Act funding to help health care centers nationwide provide primary care services to the most in-need populations, according to a press release.

To prepare for this blog, I reviewed the piece entitled, “Implementing Health Reform: House Can Sue Administration Over ACA Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments,” by Timothy Jost.

The HHS has announced a proposed rule to modify discrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which would help provide equal access to health care and coverage to some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations, according to a press release.

Optometry Giving Sight announced in a press release that it hosted the official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the first school of optometry in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, during the World Congress in Medellin, Colombia.

In agreement with the FDA’s recent draft guidance on nonproprietary naming of biological products, six physician groups collectively sent a letter to CMS Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt on Tuesday urging CMS to adopt unique billing codes for biosimilars, according to a press release.

The fundamental unit of eye care for optometrists has traditionally been the eye examination. This speaks to the roots of our profession of measuring the refractive status of each eye and providing vision correction in the form of glasses or contact lenses.

The FDA today announced the availability of a draft guidance describing its proposal on the nonproprietary naming of biological products.

Primary care physicians that worked in accountable care organization practices received higher compensation rates from quality, but not from salary or productivity, where rates were comparable with nonaccountable care organization practices, according to recently published data.

The board of the Brien Holden Vision Institute appointed Kovin Naidoo, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO, interim chief executive officer following the passing of Brien A. Holden, PhD, DSc, OAM, July 27.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter introduced a bill on July 29 targeting health insurance and patient care abuses, according to a press release from the American Optometric Association.