Seven major employer and purchasing groups, including the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, will post the customized Report Card directly onto their intranet or Internet sites, giving their employees easy access to information about their health care choices. Now, with the customized Report Card, consumers can focus on the plans they need to, and get the exact information they want. In addition, the Report Card links to plan Web sites, thus providing consumers with access to additional plan-specific information. Report Card users may also print a worksheet designed to help them determine if a particular plan suits their needs. The American Medical Association is losing money and members, according to a Modern Healthcare report.
Membership is apparently on the decline, too.
Over the past year, membership figures have dropped by almost 4,000, bringing the AMA's current membership to approximately 290,000, the lowest it's been in 5 years. More Whistleblower Protections Are Coming If your organization receives federal funds through public health research projects, it better have procedures to ensure nonretaliation against whistleblowers, according to Compliance Monitor . The proposed regulation applies to any organization that applies for or receives grants, contracts or cooperative agreements under the Public Health Services Act for any project or program that involves biomedical or behavioral research, research training or research-related activities. DHHS will accept comments on the proposed rule through Jan. 29, 2001. In addition, researchers say doctors have underestimated this year's number by 20 million.