Affordable Care Act Implementation: Health Insurance Exchanges (Marketplaces) and Essential Health Benefits

As state regulators and/or legislatures implement the Affordable Care Act, and in particular exchanges and essential health benefits, APMA encourages its members and state component societies to participate in their state’s policymaking initiatives. Your involvement will have the greatest influence on how your state implements these programs and whether essential foot and ankle services are covered.

Electronic Prescribing and Prior Authorization Policies

Podiatric physicians and surgeons have long recognized the value health information technologies provide in creating efficiencies in the delivery of health care, improving patient care, and lowering costs. APMA believes that effective legislation and policies are needed to streamline and improve electronic prescribing and prior authorization procedures.

Financial and Administrative Alignment State Demonstrations for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries

This policy brief describes CMS and state efforts to coordinate care for dual eligible beneficiaries through State Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Dual Eligible Individuals.

Identifying and Addressing Fee Discrimination

Fee discrimination exists when the difference in the amount of payment is based solely on the fact that the physician is a DPM rather than an MD or DO. This policy brief explains what steps members can take to address fee discrimination.

Non-Physician Providers' Scope of Practice

With the increased need for the provision of health-care services created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), non-physician providers’ scope of practice is a current issue for the federal and state governments. Non-physician providers include physician assistants and nurse practitioners, as well as allied health professionals (e.g., physical therapists).

State Medicaid Budgets and Podiatric Medical Services

This policy brief provides updated (as of December 2011) information regarding the current status of podiatric services in state Medicaid programs, advises state components on how to properly plan and lay out the foundation for a state Medicaid advocacy effort, and offers numerous resources state components can use in their state Medicaid advocacy efforts.

State Practice Laws: Scope of Practice and Physician Definition

One of the five objectives of Vision 2015 is to obtain state and federal government recognition that podiatrists are physicians. This objective requires revising state practice acts to create uniformity in scope of practice and defining doctors of podiatric medicine as physicians within the practice acts for podiatrists.