National Practitioner Data Bank Removed from Public View

Should information about a physician’s medical malpractice claims and disciplinary actions be made public?  You would think that the answer is a simple, yes, of course, but the question is being hotly debated right now in the news media.  The controversy began when the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) removed the National Practitioner Data Bank’s (NPDB) public use file from its website on September 1^st.  Now journalists are asking the director of HRSA and members of Congress to make the database public again

What’s the Big Deal?

[Read more →]

Approval of Incentives for Proficient Healthcare

Inspired by incentives in the federal health-overhaul law, doctors and hospitals all over the country are starting to come up with new entities that target more affordable health insurance.

However, their efforts are already cause for concern because many people question if it is truly a way to save money, or if it will in fact cause the costs to increase even more.

[Read more →]

Missouri Senate Bill 302 Debacle Raises Ethical Questions, but Misses Bigger Picture

Jefferson City has come under fire for a story that broke a few weeks ago. Questions pertaining to a conflict of interest and accusations of ethical oversight in regards to Senate Bill 302 have lit up news tickers across the state, compelling the elected inhabitants of the Missouri State Capital, and their constituents, to start looking for answers.

Regulating the Missouri Medical Malpractice Insurance Market – Senate Bill 302

[Read more →]

Joplin Physicians Persevere to Rebuild Health Care System

As a medical malpractice insurance broker in the Southwest Missouri area, I have traveled many times to meet with, engage in conversation and even relax and enjoy a good meal with the physicians of Joplin.  For twelve years I have visited this thriving town of over 50,000 and it has become like my own town, familiar.

[Read more →]

A Projected U.S. Physician Shortage

There is a great deal of talk in the news and in the healthcare field regarding a possible shortage of physicians and surgeons in the U.S. in the coming years.  According to many, the new healthcare reform plan that President Obama initiated and signed is partially to blame.  The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimates that 32 million previously uninsured Americans will acquire health insurance as a result of Obamacare.  The addition of millions of new patients into the system could cause an estimated shortage of over 39,000 physicians by 2015.

The New Healthcare Plan is Not the Only Reason for the Potential Problem

[Read more →]

Tax Extenders Signed into Law

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 has been signed into law. Physicians, Surgeons and other high net worth individuals had been on the edge of their seats, knowing that if the Act had not been signed, tax rates could rise significantly in the New Year. However, this Act extends Bush-era tax cuts for tax years 2011 and 2012 for all taxpayers, in all tax brackets. Doctors are already faced with high premiums for their medical malpractice insurance and rising costs of managing a physician office.  As a physician, the two provisions that will pose the greatest impact and savings for you are:

• The top tax rate for all individual taxpayers would remain at 35%.
• Capital gains and qualified dividends would continue to be taxed at 15%.

[Read more →]