Posted on 12.24.09 by CAFP President Tom Bent, MD

Today's historic Senate vote keeps alive our hope that 31 million more Americans will have access to health care coverage, which can dramatically improve their access to care. Yes, we still need to fundamentally reform the health care system to focus more strongly on primary and preventive care and to squarely confront cost containment and improving the quality of care. We also need to solve the primary care physician shortage so that the 31 million newly insured can actually find doctors to treat them. It turns out, however, that there just isn't the political will to solve everything at once. Coming as close as we can to universal insurance is a very good - and humane - first step. Among 19 industrialized countries recently studied, the United States had the highest proportion of deaths that could have been prevented by access to appropriate medical care. Let's start here.

AAFP Board Chair Ted Epperly, MD wrote Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this week outlining the Academy's support for, and concerns about, the current Senate Bill. AAFP supports extending health insurance to as many Americans as possible and is in favor of other insurance reforms. Family physicians also appreciate the bill's recognition of the value of primary care with the bonus payment for five years for physicians whose practices are 60 percent primary care. To better address the primary care physician shortage, however, AAFP is asking that the bonus be made permanent and the threshold lowered to 50 percent. AAFP also is requesting that Medicaid rates come in line with Medicare primary care service payments.

The House and Senate will face serious differences when they return in January to hammer out a compromise bill for President Obama's signature, but I have high hopes for family physicians and our patients that this will be the first step on a road heading in the right direction. Here's wishing CAFP members and our patients the very best (that's politically possible) in 2010!