Physicians have a lot at stake when it comes to reforming the nation’s health care system and should take an active role in the national debate, according to AMA Board member Ed Langston, M.D. The Lafayette physician recently discussed health care reform in Fort Wayne.

In the public arena, the AMA is proposing a plan with these three pillars:

• Cash – The AMA supports a plan that would provide subsidies through vouchers for low-income families who pay no taxes, as well as tax credits inversely proportional to income, up to 500 percent of the federal poverty level. The plan favors taxpayer assistance with the purchase of individually owned, portable health care insurance.
• Choice – The AMA supports allowing patients to choose their own doctors, their own hospitals and the coverage they want and can afford.
• Change – The AMA supports reform and change in insurance laws that reflect fairness and provide protections for high-risk patients.

“If you are uninsured, you live sicker and die younger,” noted Dr. Langston. “That is unacceptable and yet, that is our current situation. Right now, the cost of caring for the uninsured adds $922 to the average family’s annual premium.”

In addition to subsidies and credits, the AMA supports expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

“Individuals need choices so they can select the appropriate coverage for themselves and their families,” said Dr. Langston. “We support fair rules that include protections for high-risk patients and greater individual responsibility.”

He also explained that any reform of the health care system must:

• Reduce the burden of preventable disease and better manage chronic disease
• Support comparative effectiveness research
• Address variation in the utilization of health care services, particularly at the state and regional levels
• Make health care delivery more efficient
• Reduce non-clinical costs that do not contribute value to patient care

The AMA is staying active in the health care debate through frequent meetings with the Obama administration and committees in the U.S. House and Senate that have responsibilities for health care reform.

“Patients and physicians are not well served by the status quo,” commented Dr. Langston. “Health care reform will be successful through constructive engagement by physicians.”

Read a statement from AMA President-elect J. James Rohack, M.D., about health reform and spending here.

The AMA has joined five other major groups to deliver a letter to President Obama pledging to slow the growth rate for health care spending. Click here to see the joint letter to President Obama.