The American Medical Association announced their support of policies on
health insurance exchanges formed by the Affordable Care Act at their
policymaking meeting. According to the American Medical Association (AMA),
“exchanges should be consumer-friendly venues for patients to purchase
health insurance, but they have the potential to do much more.”
The exchanges would allow an open marketplace model that aims to
increase competition and insurance options for patients. According to the
Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, a center within the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “States have a range of
options for how the exchange operates from an ‘active purchaser’
model, in which the exchange operates as large employers often do in using
market leverage and the tools of managed competition to negotiate product
offerings with insurers, to an ‘open marketplace’ model, in which the
exchange operates as a clearinghouse that is open to all qualified insurers and
relies on market forces to generate product offerings.”
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange policies backed by the AMA would
also back state, practicing physician and patient involvement in governance of
health insurance exchanges.
Peter W. Carmel |
“If they are developed well, health insurance exchanges will
provide a new way for millions of Americans to obtain health care coverage from
private insurers,” Barbara McAneny, MD, AMA board member, stated in a news
release. “Physicians and patients should be involved in setting up and
governing these bodies to ensure they best meet the health care needs of
residents in each state.”
The AMA also strives to block implementation of 69,000 ICD-10 codes that
would replace ICD-9’s 14,000 diagnosis codes, a move that may cost small
physician practices $83,290 to implement and $285,195 for 10-physican practices
to implement, according to a 2008 study.
“The implementation of ICD-10 will create significant burdens on
the practice of medicine with no direct benefit to individual patients,”
Peter W. Carmel, MD, AMA president, stated in the release. “At a time when
we are working to get the best possible value for our health care dollar, this
massive and expensive undertaking will add administrative expense and create
unnecessary workflow disruptions.”
Other exchange policies adopted by the AMA include establishment of
portable identification systems that would allow emergency medical personnel
immediate access to patients’ medical histories through pin numbers
attached to keys or clothing or stored in wallets and prevention of legal
prohibition of male circumcision.
References:
www.ama-assn.org
http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/files/guidance_to_states_on_exchanges.html
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