3 Overlooked Legislative Trends Affecting Your Practice

Earlier this week, writer, public speaker and futurist Alex Steffen tweeted about social policy and a number of controversial topics during the short time since the 2012 Presidential elections.

Noted for his progressive green-friendly ideas, Steffen raised some interesting points. For example, rapid climate change results in even more rapid shuffles for alternative energy sources. Hydraulic fracking, for instance, has been linked to abnormally high numbers of adverse health effects in rural central New York and Pennsylvania communities.

And in other noteworthy news, Kaiser Permanente recognized that climate change threatens the improvement of healthcare this past June by publicly declaring a plan to invest in renewable energy and aggressively reduce greenhouse gasses – 30% by 2020.

If climate change legislation is indeed passed during Obama’s second term, it will likely be as sweeping as the ACA, but what about some of the other trends affecting your practice?

How are laws on medical marijuana, same-sex marriage and GMOs affecting the way you practice today? PYP scoured the Twitterverse to find out what more influential users are saying.

(Medical) Marijuana
Fact aggregator UberFacts sent out a rather interesting tweet about marijuana yesterday:

Medical marijuana can force cancer cells to freeze and prevent them from spreading.

There are medical benefits to marijuana, as most of us know, but others will argue that prescribing the drug is controversial because of side effects like a motivational syndrome, impaired judgment, and even lung cancer if you’re smoking it. But in light of Massachusetts’s approval of medical marijuana and the more controversial Colorado and Washington bills, the effect marijuana has on your practice is worth looking at.

An estimated 1 million Americans are currently using or have been prescribed medical marijuana – just one-fortieth of the total population with conditions that the plant could treat. So, whether your state does or does not prohibit its usage, you will likely come into contact with a patient using medical marijuana at some point in your professional trajectory.

Familiarize yourself with your state laws – do you need a special license? Can only a specific subset of physicians prescribe the drug?

An interesting factor to note is the relationship between the ACA and medical marijuana. The federal government obviously won’t allow reimbursement for treatments under the law, seeing as it’s still illegal nationally. But will the law allow doctor reimbursements for anything while violating federal law?

Same-Sex Marriage
Ezra Klein looked at same-sex marriage as a healthcare issue earlier this year on his Wonkblog since research suggests healthcare patterns in gay and bisexual men before and after Massachussetts’s legalization of same-sex unions showed reduced healthcare risk.

A Massachussetts-based public interested research team published the findings last year in the American Journal of Public Health, saying “examination of [billing codes] showed reductions in several medical and mental health diagnoses that are associated with stress – including hypertension, depression and adjustment disorders.”

Health insurance rights for same-sex couples can be a little trickier, however. Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) found that the ability of an employee can to legally force a private-sector employer to provide same-sex spousal benefits depends on the insurance type, meaning state law could trump the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 – the federal government’s go-to marriage definition.

Meanwhile, in July, the Obama administration made public a proposed rule to the ACA, which would extend the provision that allows children to stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26 – to same sex federal workers. So, it’s important for your practice to be aware of changes in the status of marriage, which will undoubtedly change health patterns and healthcare coverage.

Genetically Modified Foods Labeling
While promoting a post on GMO labeling, Truth About Trade tweeted the following:

What’s in the food your family eats? A new state initiative to force GMO labeling.

Are genetically modified foods safe? Critics certainly insist that not enough tests have been conducted on the matter. And while California voters turned down a measure to label GMO foods, even the President recognizes the urgency of doing so.

“Here is what I will do as president,” he said. “We will let folks know whether their food has been genetically modified because Americans should know what they are buying.”

GMOs are still a relatively new food production technique, so it’s tough to gauge what kinds of effects they have on one’s body. But as someone’s doctor, you may think it ethical to explain to someone what they’re eating.

Until then, patients munching away on bacteria, viruses, and insect genes can pop up at your practice, complaining of allergies or stomach problems. In that case, it’s probably best to tell them about the content of their food.

Think of it this way – the allergies, nutritional deficiencies and new diseases that arise from GMOs can be diminished, and your patients will likely start eating less of the 19% of GMOs infected by pesticides.

So, as we wait for climate reform or state-wide assisted death legislation, it’s important to recognize the effects groundbreaking legislation from healthcare’s lens.

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