The Independent Physician©
AMS readers will have differing positions and
opinions, but we thought it important for America’s Medical Society to put out
a formal ‘position’ on various matters that impact medical systems and health
care reform in America as our nation grapples with economic limitations and
debates our fiscal choices moving forward…
In August of this year, Congress approved an
increase in the debt limit through the Budget Control Act of 2011. The bill established
a bipartisan Super Committee of 12 members of Congress who are
tasked with identifying $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction for the next decade;
the deadline for identifying areas to ‘reduce’ was set at November 2011.
December 23rd, 2011 is the date that Congress is poised to pass legislation
incorporating these recommendations.
The Joint Select Committee may consider all
elements of discretionary and non-discretionary spending, and may also raise
taxes. The committee could propose cuts that would reduce spending in Medicare
and/or restrict Medicare benefits; these changes will likely have a significant
impact on patient care services, co-pays, prescription drugs, and
physician/provider reimbursement. In the context of the much debated ‘Affordable
Care Act’, which, if left intact, will infuse millions more into the ‘system’,
the underlying big question is this: can
Medicare truly afford to cut benefits and pay to doctors and expect access to
care to even stay at current par levels?
If the committee process fails
to produce a debt reduction plan, as much as $1.2 trillion in across-the-board
cuts will kick in – these cuts are evenly divided between defense and
non-defense spending.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas (Republican and
committee co-chair)
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington (Democrat
and committee co-chair):
Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona (Republican)
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts (Democrat)
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania (Republican)
Sen. Max Baucus of Montana (Democrat)
Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio (Republican)
Rep. Xavier Becerra of California (Democrat)
Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan (Republican)
Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina (Democrat)
Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan (Republican)
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland (Democrat)
FACT: Spending Cuts to
Medicare and Medicare Part D Will Limit Patient Access to Care
Cuts to Medicare
will ration care for the millions of Americans – particularly seniors,
low-income minority families, and people with disabilities.
Improving payments
to doctors (the elusive SGR fix…ensuring access for patients), delivery,
and preventative care are the real keys to reducing health care costs.
FACT: Controversial vehicles
like the IPAB would focus solely on payment cuts to providers and
doctors providing care to seniors – jeopardizing patient care and
limiting seniors’ choice on necessary treatments and medications.
FACT: The IPAB will have little-to-no
accountability – with no oversight by the Federal courts, the
Department of Health and Human Services or even Congress – and patients will
not be able question or challenge the board’s recommendations.
The deficit panel and the IPAB are two peas in a pod—hastily convened
ideas which will seek short term political solutions to what should be
long-term plans for America. The American people deserve direct input to
drastic, long-term changes that will affect medical delivery to our elderly and
most needy; the full body of Congress should have the ability to craft such a
plan.
Medicare Part D, Patient Savings, and the Free Market
Contrary to popular stereotypes perpetuated by
some on the political left, the vast majority of doctors and other healthcare
professionals care deeply about our seniors and disabled citizens. Furthermore,
they recognize the value and necessity of a national safety net for healthcare
services. Medicare is that safety net.
Medicare Part D, also known as a Prescription
Drug Plan, was created under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and
Modernization Act of 2003 (2003 Medicare Act) to help cover the costs of
prescription drugs for patients and seniors.
- Part D works, providing
seniors and disabled Americans with access to affordable medicines and
costing 40 percent less than initially projected, thanks to
competition among plans.
- Part D provides seniors and disabled
Americans with access to affordable medicines, thanks to competition
among plans and strong cost controls. This free market competition drives
drug costs down. Free market competition in Part D drives drug costs down,
and reforms that stifle that competition will inflate seniors’ premiums,
quash R&D and cut tens of thousands of skilled, high-paying American
jobs.
- Already, nearly 900,000
patients have used the discounts to save $461 million. - Part D plans are
negotiating medicine rebates for millions of patients.
According to the Medicare Trustees, rebates are 20-30 percent on
many brand name drugs in Part D – and biopharmaceutical companies provide
a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs in the Part D coverage
gap.
The Journal of the American Medical Association found that
the implementation of Medicare Part D reduced non-drug medical spending for
Medicare beneficiaries with limited drug coverage as well as reduced
spending in hospitals and nursing homes.
Any spending cuts that artificially restrict one of our unique national
strengths—free-market competition and innovation—will negatively affect our
national value, our competitive edge worldwide, and the long-term benefits of
having the private sector create the medical ‘miracles’ of tomorrow!
According to the
following article:
CBS Bnet. Better
drugs will reduce total health care costs – The Value of Pharmaceuticals, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0903/is_nSPEISS_v10/ai_11898211/pg_2/?tag=mantle_skin;content
(August 24, 2011).
“…Over the next 25
years, pharmaceuticals will prevent 9 million cases of heart disease and
save more than 5 million lives.”
Say what you want about ‘Big PhRMA’, but
chances are that you or someone you know and love is making a good living
because of the pharmaceutical industry. The
following contains facts that are real:
PhRMA, The U.S.
Biopharmaceuticals Sector: Economic Contribution to the Nation, p. 5, http://www.phrma.org/sites/default/files/159/2011_battelle_report_on_economic_impact.pdf
(July 2011).
Namely, that “…The
biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry supports more than 4 million U.S.
jobs and nearly $300 billion in total output to GDP.”
This report notes that “4 million jobs in 2009,
including 674,192 direct jobs,” are credited to the U.S. biopharmaceutical
industry:
Battelle Technology
Partnership Practice. The U.S. Biopharmaceuticals Sector: Economic Contribution
of the Nation, http://www.phrma.org/sites/default/files/159/2011_battelle_report_on_economic_impact.pdf,
(July 2011)
America’s Medical Society does not support
unfair practices in business, or price gouging, or other unethical behavior,
but it does recognize the obvious reality of disparities in medical care
between the United States and the rest of the world. For anyone who has lived in a
European country, or spent any length of time there, it should have been painfully obvious to them
what extent medicines and medical treatment options are rationed, restricted,
and just plain ‘not available’. We owe
our superior cancer survivor rates and high standard of living to the risks and
investments being made by the private sector. Any artificial attempts to ‘nationalize’/ration/curtail
these resources will lead to a lower standard of living and lower quality of
medical care in America.
The Pacific Research Institute’s John Graham
developed “Mission Impossible: Medicare’s Independent Payment Advisory
Board,” which analyzes the impact the IPAB is expected to make over
time and identifies prescription drugs as the IPAB’s main target. Mr. Graham
writes that “the IPAB could deny coverage of every innovative drug every year
and not come close to achieving the savings anticipated…”
READ Sally Pipes, president, CEO and Taube Fellow in Health
Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute, in a recent article entitled Sally Pipes: Medicare Part D isn’t broke so don’t fix it.
AMS Recognizes the Contributions of the Galen Institute: www.galen.org
The Galen Institute “is a non-profit public
policy research organization devoted exclusively to advancing free-market
ideas in health policy.” Headed by Grace-Marie Turner, the Galen Institute
works to promote a more informed public debate over ideas that support “innovation,
individual freedom, consumer choice, and competition in the health sector.”
Despite its free-market focus, the Galen
Institute recognizes Medicare Part D program as “an example of a working model
of a payment and delivery system.” READ MORE
from the Galen Institute.
America’s Medical Society strongly urges
Congress and the new ‘Joint Select Committee’ to preserve Medicare Part D, and
to resist the urge to curtail the robust American free-market health care
system.
Read the following
from the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut: Medicare proposal would increase costs, hurt senior citizens in The Day.
Final Facts for Consideration:
- In 2009,
industry-wide bio-pharmaceutical R&D investment passed a record $65
billion – more than twice that of the National Institutes of Health’s
annual operating budget.
New drugs are available
in the U.S. sooner than anywhere else in the world – especially
compared to markets with government price controls.
- Almost 80% of drugs used in the U.S. are generic.
But remember that these drugs came from somewhere…they were once ‘new’ and they became valuable to consumers because someone/some company invested to develop their potential for
patient care…
- It takes over $1
billion and 12-15 years to develop a new medicine; just 1-in-10,000
compounds that enter the drug discovery phase is ever approved by the FDA.
America can certainly institute short-term
cost-cutting measures that pay doctors less, restrict pharmaceutical company
profits, and pinch pennies to cut our national deficit. At AMS, we believe that every sector of
society should bear the brunt of a national deficit that is choking off the
very lifeblood of our nation. We do not believe, however, in short-term
political schemes that will discourage the best and the brightest physicians of
tomorrow from the long and arduous journey of medical training, whittle away at
the innovation and investments of the private sector, or play ‘class warfare’
games to ‘equalize the wealth’. These code
words end up in one place: socialism.
Free markets, with responsible social safety
nets, have brought America to the perch of super-power, and free markets will
allow us to continue to grow as the greatest nation on earth.
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction has set up a website to solicit comments from the public. During last week’s JSC hearing, Co-Chairwoman Patty Murray noted that 85,000 individuals had gone to www.deficitreduction.gov – the JSC website – and voiced their opinions.
The committee must begin putting in recommendations by the end of NOVEMBER 2011!! The committee must achieve expedited passage of their recommendations in a bill through Congress by December 23, 2011.
Loading ...
Bill Gunderson 
