North Carolina Rheumatology Association - NCRA

06/21/2025

We’ve got things cooking!
The NCRA Board is meeting now to start planning for 2026 and talk through important advocacy efforts. We’re excited about what’s ahead for rheumatology in our state.

06/21/2025

Big things are on the horizon!
The NCRA Board is meeting now to start planning our 2026 Annual Meeting and to talk through important advocacy efforts. We’re excited about what’s ahead for rheumatology in North Carolina!

05/26/2025

🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 This Memorial Day, we pause to honor and remember the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. We send our gratitude to their families and thank them all for their sacrifices.

05/22/2025

📣 Advocacy in Action! 💪🏛️

This week, our dedicated members took their voices straight to the . They met with and members to push for two critical reforms:

1️⃣ Prior Authorization Reform
2️⃣ PBM Reform

These changes are long overdue—and with your help, they can become reality.

05/22/2025

Advocacy Day with our members! Thank you for giving your time and energy towards these important causes.

03/11/2025

See you all this weekend for our 2025 NCRA annual conference!
https://ncrheum.org/conference-info/

03/07/2025

📣 📣 📣 📣 📣 📣
Sharing from our friends at the North Carolina Medical Society:
Action Alert: Medicare Payment Fix
Contact your member of Congress ASAP!
📣 📣 📣 📣 📣 📣

Over the past two decades, Medicare physician payment rates have declined by 33%, when adjusted for the cost of running a practice. The payment cuts for the past five consecutive years have left physicians and practices struggling to manage practice costs while fulfilling the commitment to meeting the care needs of their elderly and chronically ill patients.

The last Congress failed to pass legislation that would have addressed these issues in its end-of-year funding package. As a result, a 2.8% cut to physician Medicare payments went into effect on January 1, 2025.

Congress must pass legislation to mitigate the cut and needs to act again now.

Rep. Greg Murphy, MD, a urologist from Greenville, NC who represents North Carolina’s 3rd congressional district, has taken the lead in a legislative fix for the payment dilemma. On January 31, 2025, he, along with a bipartisan group of House colleagues, introduced H.R. 879 / Medicare Patient Access & Practice Stabilization Act, which would reverse the 2.8% cut to Medicare physician payment and provide a positive inflationary update.

Building support for this legislation among our members of Congress is urgent and crucial. The time to act is now and we need you to contact your member of the US House of Representatives today and urge them to cosponsor this important bill. The more bipartisan support that we can build, the greater the likelihood of it getting enacted.

If your member of Congress responds that she/he is already a cosponsor, thank them and ask them to help build support for the legislation. Please take action today. Thank you.

02/08/2025

So you've saved the date for March 15-16 at the Washington Duke Inn ✅
You've checked out the agenda ✅
BUT have you heard about our interactive learning sessions? 💡

https://ncrheum.org/2025-interactive-sessions/

01/31/2025

Curious what you'll hear at the 2025 NCRA conference?
Check out our agenda today!
https://ncrheum.org/elementor-3291/

01/31/2025

What's in store for our 2025 NCRA Conference?
Dig into our agenda today!
https://ncrheum.org/elementor-3291/

01/30/2025

We agree. Your voice matters.

The Alliance of Transparent and Affordable Prescriptions (ATAP) has strongly condemned PBM practices highlighted in the recent FTC report, revealing exploitative pricing that undermines patient care.

Dr. Gwenesta Melton, AWIR Vice President and Co-Chair of Advocacy, puts it succinctly:
"Reforming PBM practices is a challenge but needed to provide access to medications and care that our rheumatic patients deserve. AWIR will champion changes to improve this predatory behavior."

The findings are staggering. PBMs have imposed thousands of percent price increases on specialty drugs, generated $1.4 billion through spread pricing abuses, and steered profits to their own pharmacies through self-dealing—all at the expense of patients and independent providers.

💡 It’s clear: PBMs have turned healthcare into a profit center, forcing patients into financial ruin for life-saving drugs.

AWIR and ATAP call on Congress to enact comprehensive reforms to:
✅ Pass rebates directly to patients.
✅ Ban spread pricing.
✅ Increase pricing transparency.
✅ End anti-competitive self-dealing.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4jGUCiv

Rheumatologists, your voice is vital! Join us in demanding reform to ensure patient-first healthcare: https://bit.ly/49yJy1i

01/29/2025

What’s in store for our March Conference? 🗓️🚨
Get a peak at our agenda today! https://ncrheum.org/elementor-3291/