Another Fishy One…National Healthcare Reform at Forefront of Issues for Florida Orthopaedic Society

Posted by admin on August 5, 2009 under ***IMPORTANT LEGISLATION***, 2K9 Tea Party Revolution, ObamaCare | Be the First to Comment

One of the hottest topics among medical professionals today is national healthcare reform. And while there have been some policy statements released on the subject, the fact is, no one really knows what to expect. For this reason, the Florida Orthopaedic Society (FOS), along with other state medical and specialty organizations, is working to keep its members up-to-date on all of the information available.

“A great number of people are concerned with the idea of government-directed or government-controlled healthcare reform,” explained Julio Gonzalez, M.D., a member of the FOS Board of Councilors. “There are many different ideas out there about how that can look—whether it’s a universal single payer system, which is the classic idea of universal healthcare, or a multipayer, government-directed system. There aren’t a lot of details available on which way the administration, and the leadership in the House and Senate, want to direct the plan.”

For the past year, Dr. Gonzalez has been heavily involved in the healthcare reform debate. “I was catapulted to a much higher level of debate after reading Call to Action: Healthcare Reform 2009 by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus,” he explained. “When I read about the amount of government intervention, manipulation and oversight inherent in the plan, I was appalled. I felt threatened, for myself and for my patients.”

In answer to the Montana senator’s paper, Dr. Gonzalez wrote a book entitled Health Care Reform: The Truth. He also began working with state medical organizations to inform their members, and started a grass-roots group, The Alliance for Responsible Healthcare Reform, to bring more attention to the issues. Through this group, medical professionals from all sectors, including nursing homes, physical therapy groups and hospitals meet with district congressman to voice their concerns.

According to Dr. Gonzalez, there are many factors that need to be addressed in the healthcare reform debate, including the timeline of the reform itself. “I find it appalling and irresponsible that the Legislature wants to come out with a bill by June, and have it ready to go before the president by October 15,” he explained. “By all accounts, they are revamping the way we deliver healthcare in this country in what is essentially a four-month process, without sharing the contents of their bill with the public for discussion and debate.”

While a few policy statements have provided a general overview of the plan, Dr. Gonzalez, and many other medical professionals, are alarmed by the lack of detail on funding, logistics and short- and long-term goals. “I went to Washington, D.C. in April, and met with Republican and Democratic members of Congress,” he explained. “Not only does the public not know what’s in the bill, but even members of both parties are not familiar with what it contains.”

Of specific interest to medical specialty groups are issues dealing with the loss of autonomy for patients in choosing the provider and the type of healthcare they receive, and the concept of bundling payments to a hospital. “A hospital will get reimbursed for all of the care provided to the patient, and then they are responsible for deciding how and to whom they divvy up the payments,” said Dr. Gonzalez. “This is going to cause a lot of politicking between different team member within the patient care delivery system who should be working together.”

The ‘budget neutral’ concept, in which general physicians receive enhanced reimbursements at the expense of specialty physicians, is also a sticking point. “A budget-neutral approach to increasing reimbursement for generalists and primary care at the expense of specialists ignores the fact that there is a universal shortage of physicians, affecting specialists and generalists alike,” said Dr. Gonzalez. “Enhancing reimbursement of one group at the expense of the other will lead to shortages in specialty care like you see in Canada and Europe.”

Dr. Gonzalez is also alarmed by the government’s idea of not allowing physicians to own hospitals, citing conflict-of-interest. “Some of the greatest hospitals in the country—the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, New York University Hospital for Specialty Surgery, Venice Regional Medical Center in Florida—were all created by physicians,” he said. “This concept ignores the fact that physician expertise and involvement lead to the creation of top-notch medical centers.”

Until the actual bill comes out, Dr. Gonzalez is working with a number of organizations to raise awareness, and encouraging people to review the bill with thought, an open mind, insight and research. “It is imperative that patients know what’s coming, and determine if this is what they really want,” he said. “I have a feeling that the American patient really doesn’t want to have the government dictate what will happen in the exam room.”

Source: http://www.southfloridahospitalnews.com/specialfocus/default.asp?articleID=4051