AMNews: April 27, 2009. AMA letter backs Obama's broad principles for health system reform ... American Medical News

AMNews: April 27, 2009. AMA letter backs Obama's broad principles for health system reform ... American Medical News:

"But embracing the eight principles does not mean the AMA necessarily backs every idea on health reform that Obama has revealed so far. For instance, the president has called for creating a public health plan option linked with a national health insurance exchange to serve as competition for private plans. In its letter to the White House, the AMA says it supports a health insurance exchange to ensure coverage choice and portability, but it does not weigh in on the public plan option. To move toward universal coverage, Congress should build on the employer-based system and strengthen the safety net provided by publicly financed programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, Dr. Nielsen and Dr. Rohack wrote.

"Dr. Nielsen stressed that the organization is mindful of the need to watch the dollar signs as policymakers work toward the goal of universal coverage. 'It's very important for us that all Americans have health care coverage that's affordable. But we do understand that we can't afford everything for everybody, so we need to have fiscally responsible conversations.'

"The letter proposes expanding on Obama's principles in a number of ways, including:

• Reforming and improving the insurance market through the use of modified community rating, guaranteed renewability and fewer benefit mandates.
• Assisting low-income individuals through premium subsidies and cost-sharing assistance.
• Promoting medical home models to reduce system fragmentation and improve care coordination.
• Establishing antitrust reforms that would allow groups of physicians to contract jointly with payers as long as the doctors certify they are collaborating on health information technology and quality improvement initiatives.
• Easing the effect of liability pressure on the practice of defensive medicine through innovative approaches, such as health courts, early disclosure and compensation programs, and expert witness qualification standards"

The "8 Principles" of Obama are at the end of the article.

I do wonder why the AMA is pushing back on the public option. It seems to me the only chance physicians have of keeping reimbursement rates reasonable because private insurers will do their darndest to NOT wring savings out of the system (except on the provider side!), and so all that money is money not available to providers. One man's waste is another man's revenue.

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