Newsroom

Healthcare for All-WNC offers two free educational opportunities on Tuesday, May 1, 2018

April 18, 2018

Physicians for a National Health Program leader Dr. Ed Weisbart will speak on “What Does ‘Medicare for All’ Mean for Medical Practice, Physicians, Patients and the USA?”

When: Tuesday, May 1, 2018 - 12:30 – 1:30 PM

Where: All Souls Cathedral Zabriskie Hall, 9 Swan Street, Asheville

Retired Physician Shares Article he Wrote for Physicians for a National Health Program

April 11, 2018

Dr. Robert Kline has shared an article with the Western Carolina Medical Society that he wrote for Physicians for a National Health Program. Dr. Kline eagerly wanted to share with his colleagues from WNC.

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation Webinar

February 9, 2018

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) recently announced the administration’s first new Medicare alternative payment model, Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced). This voluntary model includes 29 inpatient and 3 outpatient clinical episodes. Please join AMA Board Chair Dr. Gerald Harmon on Monday evening, Feb. 26^th, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm Central time, for a free webinar on the model. The webinar, designed for physicians and focusing on the clinical aspects of the model, will be presented by CMMI’s Dr. Steven Farmer, who is a cardiologist, senior advisor and medical officer. Dr. Farmer will also respond to questions from webinar participants. The webinar comes at a key time, two weeks before applications to participate in the model will be due.

Joint Statement on the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson legislation.

September 26, 2017

Over the weekend and earlier today, changes were made to the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson health system reform legislation. These changes would primarily benefit a handful of states where Republican Senators have threatened to vote against the legislation on the floor. In addition, changes were made that seem intended to address Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) interest in providing still more flexibility to states under the proposed new block grant system. Highlights of the recent changes include the following:

Directs more federal funding to key states, including Alaska, Arizona, Kentucky, and Maine:

Tightens language regarding pre-existing conditions: states would have to describe how their health plans "shall maintain access to adequate and affordable health insurance coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions." The original language said each state had to show how it "intends" to have adequate and affordable access to coverage.

States are given broad new authority to allow insurance companies to design new insurance rules for individuals and insurers that receive money through the block grant program. Under the new version, states would no longer be required to apply for waivers from many of the ACA’s patient protections; instead, states could let insurers impose deductibles that are higher than the limits set by the ACA, or remove the health law’s limits on the costs that an individual family can incur in a year entirely. They could also offer coverage that lacks some of the ACA’s essential health benefits, such as maternity care, prescription drugs or mental health. Plus, states could let insurers widen the gap between how much older people and young people are charged. And states could remove requirements that insurers cover preventive-health treatments and immunizations. This could result in insurers offering bare-bones insurance policies that feature cheaper premiums but higher out-of-pocket costs, thereby pricing out individuals with pre-existing conditions.

AMA Letter to Senate Leadership on Cassidy-Graham Amendment

September 19, 2017

The attached letter was sent to the Senate leadership today, expressing the AMA’s opposition to the Cassidy-Graham-Heller-Johnson Amendment to H.R. 1628, the “American Health Care Act of 2017.” The legislation does not meet the principles for health system reform that the AMA shared with Congress on the first day of the 2017 legislative session. In particular, it would result in millions of Americans losing health insurance coverage, further destabilize the health insurance marketplace, undermine the health care safety net provided by Medicaid, and jeopardize important insurance reforms such as guaranteed issue and the ban on pre-existing condition exclusions and benefit caps.

To take advantage of the preferred procedural rules provided for budget reconciliation bills that would allow passage by the Senate with a simple majority, the legislation must be passed by September 30. House passage could be delayed until after that deadline, but no changes could be made. A Congressional Budget Office estimate of the amendment’s impact is expected early next week; due to time constraints, it is not expected to include estimated impacts on coverage or other important details.

NC Medicaid Comments Submission by NCMS

September 12, 2017

On behalf of the more than 12,000 physician and physician assistant members of the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS), we respectfully submit these comments on the Proposed Plan Design for NC Medicaid.

AMA Statement on Senate Debate on Health System Reform

July 26, 2017

During consideration of proposals related to the Affordable Care Act, the American Medical Association urges Senators to consider the impact their votes will have on the health of all Americans.

The AMA Strongly Opposes the Senate’s Health-reform Proposal

June 27, 2017

A lot of big numbers have been tossed around in the days since Senate leaders unveiled a “discussion draft” of legislation—dubbed the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA)—that would dramatically reshape how our country’s health system is financed.