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AAFP, AAP, ACP, ACOG call on Congress to ensure continued health care access

Representatives from several medical organizations have sent a letter asking Congress to ensure a stable insurance market and access to universal health benefits in any health care legislation reform.

The letter arrives as the 115th Congress is sworn in and President Obama prepares to meet with Democratic leaders later this week to try and prevent the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Citing record lows in in the number of uninsured children, improved numbers of insured pregnant women, working class individuals, and other progress made in the past 6-plus years with the ACA, the letter from the AAFP, AAP, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and American College of Physicians (ACP) asked lawmakers to preserve health benefits regardless of pre-existing conditions, family history, age, gender, race, national origin or disability.

“We cannot go back to a time when our patients couldn't get coverage because of pre-existing conditions, family history, gender, or race,” Thomas Gellhaus, MD, president of ACOG, said in a press release. “It is not acceptable to charge women more for insurance just because they're women, deny them maternity coverage, or drop a breast cancer patient's coverage mid-treatment because she's reached her lifetime cap. We must continue to make health care accessible and affordable for all."

The organizations also called on Congress to ensure a viable health care safety net for low-income Americans and their children.

“As we face an uncertain health care landscape, we cannot leave our youngest members of society without reliable access to health care coverage,” Benard Dreyer, MD, FAAP, immediate past president of the AAP,” said in the release. “Pediatricians know what children need, and we look forward to working with Congress and our colleagues in medicine to protect our patients.”

In the letter, the organizations also highlighted the need for Congress to preserve coverage and maintain affordability of health insurance through premium assistance and cost-sharing subsidies for Americans who have bought plans through the marketplaces or qualified for Medicaid coverage.

“As a practicing internist, the last thing I want to see is for us to go back to the days when my hard-working patients had to go without health insurance because there were no federal subsidies to help them afford the premiums or deductibles charged by commercial insurers,” Nitin S. Damle, MD, MS, MACP, ACP president, said in the release. “Many of these patients would delay or not seek care, leading potentially to serious health consequences.”

AAFP President John Meigs, Jr., MD, said too much is at stake to make significant changes to ACA, and all the groups asked lawmakers to use caution when contemplating revisions or modifications.

“Our members cared for patients who had no insurance before health system reform and saw the devastating effects of delayed or denied health services,” Meigs said in the release. “Since 2010, they have seen the positive impact of health care reform. They know what the consequences will be if Congress eliminates or dismantles the current law’s access provisions and patient protections.”

Clinicians covering a wide range of specialties, such as infectious diseases, endocrinology, and cardiology, have also expressed uncertainty about the impact of Trump’s presidency on health care.

Disclosure: Healio Family Medicine was unable to determine relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.