Erick Eiting For AMA Trustee

Health Care Reform

The President and Congress are committed to health system reform, and we are fortunate to be direct participants in crafting a palatable public-private partnership. We need to make sure we continue to have a seat at the table so any new plan is designed to be patient-centered and also focused on physicians needs to provide appropriate care.

Covering the Uninsured

With so many Americans losing their jobs and their insurance at the same time, health coverage has become an even more vital priority. We must work with all stakeholders to ensure that everyone has coverage to prevent the dire health and economic consequences of perpetuating a system where millions remain uninsured.

Liability

We have made some valuable progress through legislation in a number of states, but the vast majority of states still require protections for physicians and mechanisms to control the exorbitant increases in liability premiums. We need to work with our elected officials and appropriate partners to control the cost of liability and prevent this burden from pushing physicians out of practice or out of states that desperately require their services.

Changing the HOD

Our Speakers have identified a wide variety of options to decrease cost and improve efficiency. Eliminating the interim meeting is one possibility that requires careful consideration. Whatever changes we make, we must protect the democratic process of the House and ensure the House monitors and controls the evolution of our AMA.

Medical Education

We need to retain our autonomy in teaching and training physicians. We should not allow for new licensing exams unless there is a proven benefit to doing so, and our licensing exams should only be used for evaluating the training of physicians. We need to work vigorously to ensure that students and residents can afford medical education so we
may continue to recruit the best and brightest candidates to become future physicians.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Kennedy Health Bill Mandates Public Plan, Coverage for All

Senator Kennedy has released a preliminary draft of his health care plan. His plan calls for a public plan similar to the one suggested by the Obama Administration with reimbursements at 10 percent above Medicare, a universal mandate for coverage and an employer mandate for offering insurance to employees and their dependents, up to age 26. Those who cannot afford coverage would be exempt from penalties, as would small businesses who cannot afford coverage for their employees. The bill would also increase the cutoff for Medicaid eligibility to 150 percent of the federal poverty level. Though certainly a step in the right direction in terms of expanding coverage, tying physician payments to Medicare without eliminating the SGR and fixing the reimbursement mechanism would drive physicians out of practice

Five Big Health-Care Dilemmas

Senator Max Baucus is confident that Congress will pass legislation by the end of the year and finally achieve comprehensive health reform. This Time article asks some questions that have yet to be answered, such as how much will it cost, will we be able to cover everyone and how can we afford a plan when we are already struggling with debt and a suffering economy.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, or to discuss any of the issues here.
Regards,
Erick Eiting, MD, MPH

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