By Rob Hotakainen http://www.azstarnet.com WASHINGTON — Congress is under pressure to remedy a national doctor shortage that could worsen on July 1, when physicians who treat Medicare patients get a 10 percent pay cut. One-third of the nation’s active doctors — or roughly 250,000 — are over 55 and likely to retire in the next […]

BY ROB HOTAKAINEN AND ANDI ATWATER http://www.kansas.com Congress is under pressure to fix a national doctor shortage that could worsen on July 1, when physicians who treat Medicare patients will get a 10 percent pay cut. Some say the situation is dire. One-third of the nation’s active doctors — or roughly 250,000 of them — […]

BY DAVID RUNK • ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.freep.com Universities and hospitals across Michigan are working to head off an impending doctor shortage fueled by the nation’s aging baby boomer population. The state’s first new medical school in four decades is set to open in 2010, and existing schools are expanding their campuses and admitting bigger classes. […]

By Mike King http://www.ajc.com Georgia’s Republican legislators held it together on the last day of the session just long enough to push through two measures that they claim will stimulate competition in the state’s health care marketplace. State legislative leaders, borrowing from the health care playbook of GOP think tanks, contend that consumers will benefit […]

http://www.kaisernetwork.org At a meeting with physicians on Friday, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) outlined a package of Medicare legislation that would delay for 18 months a 10% Medicare physician payment cut that is scheduled to take effect July 1, CQ Today reports. The measure would prevent the cuts until 2010 and could also […]

By Patty Pensa http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Pregnant women in South Florida face fewer choices for medical care as more doctors stop delivering babies and avoid taking on high-risk patients. The result: More patients flock to fewer doctors, who in turn send expectant mothers to even fewer specialists. It means more juggling of appointments, longer waits to see […]

Pittsburgh Business Times http://www.bizjournals.com/ The number of medical malpractice case filings last year continued to decline in Pennsylvania, according to data released by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The number of cases filed was down significantly from 2002, the year before the state Supreme Court instituted rules to prevent venue shopping for sympathetic juries and required […]

Associated Press http://www.bnd.com/ SPRINGFIELD – Illinois doctors will get a refund collectively worth $11 million from the state’s largest medical malpractice insurer. The Illinois State Medical Insurance Exchange says claims are down. That means doctors will get credits when they renew their policies. Individual doctors will get around $500 to $1,000. Dr. Harold Jensen chairs […]

By Amy Lynn Sorrel http://www.ama-assn.org/  A recent Minnesota trial court ruling raises questions about whether medical specialty societies should serve as sentinels over expert witnesses in the courtroom. A Hennepin County District Court judge tossed out claims that the American Academy of Ophthalmology defamed Charles Yancey, MD, when its ethics committee examined his statements as […]