Health Care Reform

On March 21, 2010, history was made when the US House of Representatives passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590). Among other measures, the bill would: expand health coverage to 32 million uninsured, increase primary care payment, improve access to preventive care and implement patient protections against insurance company policy cancellations. The US House of Representatives has prepared a timeline of when the bill's wide-ranging provisions will be implemented.
CAFP President Tom Bent, MD was among 11 health care leaders quoted regarding health care reform in the March 23 edition of Health Leaders. Read these comments here.
AAFP launched it's Health Care Reform 2010 page, where members can find all the information they will need to understand how health reform will effect them, their practices and their patients.
You can also view a one-page document that the AAFP Contact Center staff is sending to members who contact the Academy with general questions about the legislation that was signed in to law. The document is a quick summary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - what it does for physicians and patients - and areas that we are still working to address.
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The Academy worked hard to ensure that the voice of family medicine was heard loud and clear during the health care debate. The CAFP Board of Directors voted to endorse HR 3962, one version of the health care reform bill. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American Medical Association (AMA) also endorsed this approach.
Meanwhile, the Senate approved HR 3590 on December 24th. A series of parliamentary procedures were undertaken to reconcile the House and Senate approaches.
Along with the Council of Academic Family Medicine, AAFP wrote to House and Senate leaders outlining priorities for the final health care reform package. These recommendations included: improvements to a residency slot reallocation plan; expansion of medical home demonstrations to all patients rather than limited patient populations; and payment issues related the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and bonuses for primary care.
Resources
- Kaiser Family Foundation offers a tool to compare and contrast the different provisions in each bill.
- Health Affairs Blogger Timothy Jost periodically compares the major provisions, along with detailing political and policy stances.
- American Academy of Family Physicians provides information on various provisions, as well as positions that AAFP has taken.
- Congressional Quarterly Summary of health care reform legislation as passed by the House and Senate


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Physicians Health Insurance Reform
HSA's and "government programs"
HR 3200
HR 3200 safeguards
HR 3200
CAFP sent out an all-member email yesterday in the hope that providing some facts about HR3200, the main health care reform legislation moving through Congress, along with the rationale for CAFP’s and AAFP’s support of the bill, would help educate our members so they could educate their patients, allaying fears that have developed because of misinformation being spread by opponents. I am surprised to read some of the comments in response to the email because some re-state some of the very untruths about the legislation we were trying to dispel! Members have the right to disagree with this approach to health care reform. But, it ISN’T socialized medicine OR single payer; it DOESN’T force physicians or patients to participate in a public option plan (if such a plan is ultimately adopted); it DOESN’T dismantle the health care system as we know it. Tort reform was not a consideration in the Board’s decision because California enjoys the best professional liability protections in the country at this time.
Steve Green, MD
CAFP Board of Directors
HR3200
HR 3200
hr 3200
I agree with Jim
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