Advocacy Articles
Updates about legislative and regulatory issues impacting the field of sleep medicine
On March 26, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar swore in Dr. Robert Redfield, an accomplished AIDS researcher, as the 18th director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a position that did not require confirmation by the [...]
On March 19 the American Medical Association (AMA) released the results of a physician survey showing widespread negative experiences with the implementation of prior authorization in the U.S. health care system. In a group of 1,000 physician respondents, 9 in 10 physicians report that current [...]
AASM President Dr. Ilene Rosen and President-Elect Dr. Douglas Kirsch are among the sleep medicine leaders scheduled to participate in the FDA workshop, “Study Design Considerations for Devices including Digital Health Technologies for Sleep Disordered Breathing in Adults,” which will be held on April [...]
President Trump recently signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, a spending package that significantly impacts health care and marked the end of an hours-long federal shutdown. The federal government will be funded according to the spending Act until March 23. The [...]
On Feb. 12 President Donald Trump released his budget for fiscal year 2019, which largely serves to outline his agenda for the coming year. If enacted the budget would amount to $4.4 trillion in federal spending. While important in defining a policy agenda, particularly [...]
On Feb. 8 the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a new research brief suggesting that drowsy driving is involved in up to 9.5% of car crashes, which is much higher than official statistics published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The [...]
On Feb. 2 the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that severe, untreated sleep apnea led to two high-profile train crashes in New Jersey and New York in September 2016 and January 2017. Both train wrecks took place on commuter trains operated by obese [...]
On Jan. 31 Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald resigned from her position as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as reports revealed that she had purchased stock in tobacco companies just one month after assuming her position at the agency in July 2017. According [...]
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma recently indicated that CMS will form an interagency group to evaluate physician concerns about the Stark Law, according to reports by multiple outlets including Modern Healthcare and Fierce Healthcare. Verma stated that CMS, the [...]
On Jan. 24, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alex Azar, was confirmed by a 55-43 vote in the U.S. Senate. Azar is an HHS veteran who served during the George W. Bush administration. His [...]