At the SLEEP 2012 Plenary Session, Mark Rosekind, PhD, a National Transportation Safety Board Member, delivered a memorable keynote speech on the dangers of fatigue across all modes of transportation. Materials from Dr. Rosekind's speech are now available through the NTSB. This includes a full powerpoint of his presentation, and a call to action on the NTSB Director's blog.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the federal health reform law and the individual mandate later this month. The anticipation and debate over the ruling has stakeholders and lawmakers concerned about the future of the law's popular consumer benefit provisions.

Healthcare stakeholders are concerned about Congress' ability to stave off a scheduled 30% Medicare physician pay cut scheduled for 2013, particularly with the November election and the anticipated workload during the lame duck session.

Congratulations to the Maryland Sleep Society (MSS) for passing House Bill 827! The bill amends the Maryland Polysomnography Practice Act by recognizing A-STEP as an educational pathway.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is increasing its antitrust examination of state medical board and state legislative actions, particularly those concerning scope of practice.

After numerous failed attempts to replace the sustainable growth rate (SGR), the formula that annually determines physician reimbursement rates under Medicare, lawmakers have again begun to discuss solutions to the SGR issue.

Health care spending by privately insured individuals increased by 3.3 percent between 2009 and 2010. Spending has increased primarily because prices of services increased, according to a study by the Health Care Cost Institute. The findings are based on claims data from Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare, which cover about 20 percent of residents with employer-sponsored health plans.

U.S. health insurers would lose nearly a trillion dollars in new revenue between 2013 and 2020 if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the federal health reform law, according to a study by Bloomberg Government.

Please join government relations specialists from the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST) on Monday, June 11 at 3:15pm at SLEEP 2012 to learn about legislative/regulatory activity for 2011-2012.