This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
AMA urges Senate to sustain insurance coverage
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
AMA recently penned a letter to Senate leaders advocating protection for patients at risk of losing health insurance coverage as the Senate begins considering health system reform, according to a press release.
“Significant changes to the [Affordable Care Act] or Medicaid program potentially threaten the ability for millions of Americans to obtain and retain coverage,” James L. Madara, MD, CEO of AMA, wrote in the letter. “It is these citizens, constituents and patients who should be at the center of this debate.”
In the letter, AMA reaffirmed its principles and advised that any changes to the ACA should maintain essential insurance market reforms, including coverage for pre-existing conditions, guaranteed issue and parental coverage for young adults. New proposals should also stabilize and strengthen the individual insurance market and ensure that low- and moderate-income patients have access to affordable and sufficient coverage regardless of age, income or place of residence. Safety net programs, such as Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, should be effectively funded under the new health care law, AMA added. Moreover, regulatory burdens should be reduced and greater cost transparency should be provided to strengthen the health care system, according to AMA.
Although the ACA could be improved, it was an important law that was encouragingly progressing toward ensuring that quality, affordable health insurance was accessible to all Americans, according to AMA.
“We do not support changes to the health care system that would result in health care coverage being beyond the reach of those who are currently covered, that would weaken the health care safety net, or that would compromise the ability of physicians to provide care for our patients,” Madara wrote.
AMA recently announced its disappointment with the passage of the American Health Care Act.
Disclosure: Healio Internal Medicine was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.