Organized Medicine and The Affordable Care Act

Organized Medicine and The Affordable Care Act

Thursday Daniel Henninger, editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal wrote that doctors will be the losers with the Affordable Care Act.   Further, “The Affordable Care Act will damage that most crucial of all life relationships, that between an ill person and his physician.”

Hold on, Dan; not so fast.   Sure the Act is imperfect.  But if it is so deleterious to that crucial relationship, why is it that major medical societies have applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling?

Here’s a sampling of opinions by some of the nation’s top physician organizations:

Robert Block, MD, president of The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), said in a statement:

“Today, the Supreme Court upheld a law that invests in children’s health from the ground up.”    

“The Academy endorsed the Affordable Care Act because it addresses the same ‘A-B-C’ goals that are entrenched in our mission and in our 82 years of child health Advocacy: providing all children in this country with access to health care services, age-appropriate Benefits to meet their unique needs, and high-quality, affordable health care Coverage.”

Notes the American College of Physicians:

“The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in its entirety is a victory for improving health care for all Americans.” 

“While the American College of Physicians (ACP) did not take a position on the constitutional issues before the court, we believe that the individual insurance mandate, combined with the ACA’s subsidies to buy qualified coverage through state marketplaces (exchanges), Medicaid expansion to more low-income persons, and consumer protections against insurance practices that deny or limit coverage, are the most effective ways to expand coverage to nearly all Americans. We are pleased that the Supreme Court’s ruling resolves the legal questions so that these and other reforms can go forward.

The American College of Cardiology’s president William Zoghbi, MD, wade in: 



“Now that the long-awaited Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act is behind us, we can continue down the path to health care reform… “The ACC favors provisions in the law that support preventive care, access to care, elimination of waste, and a payment system that encourages quality. Hard work remains ahead before we arrive at a sustainable payment system that emphasizes value and a strong patient-doctor relationship.”
 

Said the American Academy of Family Physicians:

“By upholding the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court has ensured that Americans have access to affordable, sustainable health care coverage and that they receive high quality, coordinated and efficient care based on primary care. It is a future that family physicians happily anticipate.”

Women’s doctors also gave thumbs up:

“The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) applauds the US Supreme Court’s ruling today that affirms the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)… “The Affordable Care Act helps ensure all Americans have access to affordable coverage with important consumer protections and benefits, including comprehensive maternity coverage and well-woman care,” said ACOG President James T. Breeden, MD. “We urge all states to act swiftly to implement these important access and coverage guarantees.”

The American Medical Association, which long ago fought tooth and nail again Medicare, also added its stamp of approval to the ACA:

“This decision protects important improvements, such as ending coverage denials due to pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps on insurance, and allowing the 2.5 million young adults up to age 26 who gained coverage under the law to stay on their parents' health insurance policies. The expanded health care coverage upheld by the Supreme Court will allow patients to see their doctors earlier rather than waiting for treatment until they are sicker and care is more expensive. The decision upholds funding for important research on the effectiveness of drugs and treatments and protects expanded coverage for prevention and wellness care, which has already benefited about 54 million Americans. 

It would have been useful if organized medicine had been more vocal over the past two years when willful misinformation about the ACA was as common as smog.   But at least now they are affirming their support.  Better late than never.

Michael Durand