Ohio State Medical Association differs with American Medical Association on House reform bill

Dr. Roy Thomas, president of the Ohio State Medical Association, is attending an interim meeting of the American Medical Association in Houston this weekend that promises fireworks over the AMA's endorsement of U.S. House health care reform. The AMA's endorsement of H.R. 3962 has triggered a revolt among some AMA members who want the endorsement withdrawn.

Updated 12:53 p.m.

HILLIARD, Ohio — Dr. Roy Thomas, president of the Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA), is attending an interim meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) in Houston this weekend.

The meeting promises fireworks because Thomas and other AMA members oppose the latest U.S. House health care reform bill, which the national medical association endorsed last week.

On Wednesday, Thomas said he opposed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, because it “lacks many of the critical elements necessary for successfully reforming America’s health care delivery system and strengthening the physician-patient relationship.”

One of the missing elements is a permanent fix for a formula Medicare uses to reimburse doctors, called the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The SGR was created by Congress in 1997 to keep Medicare payments from spiraling out of control, according to the Wall Street Journal Health blog.

“On Jan. 1, 2010, Medicare physician payments are scheduled to be cut by 21.2 percent, with projected cuts of 40 percent or more in future years,” Thomas said in a written statement. “Any legislation that fails to eliminate the SGR formula, or proposes another short-term patch that leaves the underlying problem in place will continue to build upon a faulty foundation and will jeopardize seniors’ access to care.”

The sustainable growth formula has been debated for years. Most times when Medicare announces pay cuts for doctors, as dictated by the growth rate formula, Congress overrides the agency and prevents the cuts, according to the WSJ blog. As part of the nation’s health care reform debate, doctors’ groups, including the American Medical Association, have been lobbying for a change to the system that creates these near-misses, the Wall Street Journal said.

On Wednesday, OSMA’s Thomas sent letters to each of Ohio’s U.S. representatives and senators, outlining his opposition to the current House reform bill. He also sent copies of a letter to House Minority Leader John Boehner, a West Chester, Ohio Republican who is leading his party’s House legislation, to each Ohio delegation member. It was a last-ditch effort to make his opposition known on the bill that could be voted on by the House as early as today, said OSMA spokesman Jason Koma.

On Thursday, the American Medical Association endorsed H.R. 3962, as well as H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009. OSMA contends that the Medicare physician payment reform should be included in — not separate from — the main reform legislation, Koma said. That’s because it would have a better chance of passage there. A similar stand-alone Medicare reform failed in the U.S. Senate vote last week.

AMA members like Dr. Donald Palmisano, a former president of the national association and spokesman for the Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights, were shocked by the AMA’s endorsement of the legislation. Palmisano said in a written statement that AMA House of Delegates members are set to debate a resolution stating “that the AMA follow long-standing and extensive policy that would preclude such support of H.R. 3962.”

Fox News reported Friday that the AMA’s endorsement of H.R. 3962 has triggered a revolt among some members who want the endorsement withdrawn.

Shares0
Shares0