Docs 4 Patient Care

[baseballbruce30]

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Practicing US physicians uniting to represent the interests and concerns of both, patients and doctors in the healthcare reform debate. D4PC endorses the concept of needed healthcare reform, but we recognize it can only be accomplished by proceeding in a cautious and responsible manner. Our recommendations will enable us to reach this goal without requiring the nationalization of the entire American healthcare system.
Docs4PatientCare Proposed Alternatives For Effective Healthcare Reform:

* There is no logical reason to hastily pass this legislation by a predetermined deadline. We have one chance to get this right.

* Bring "all" stakeholders together to help assure a meaningful and sustainable reform by considering many recommendations and proposals.

* Adopt a patient-centered approach to healthcare reform that empowers patients and promotes freedom of choice.

* Use the power of government to assist the uninsured obtain health coverage through modification of the tax code, such as tax credits and vouchers.

* Reduce high insurance premiums by opening up patient risk pools across the entire nation, thereby, diffusing risk.

* Allow the individual/family to be the "owner" of the policy making their health care coverage portable and available if they lose their job or move to a new place of employment. This will eliminate exclusion from the new employer's plan for a “pre-existing” health issue and also eliminate a waiting period to qualify for enrollment.

* Encourage and expand Health Savings Accounts. Tax-Free savings vehicle for planned and/or unexpected medical expenses.

* Tort Reform. The costs to our healthcare system secondary to the practice of defensive medicine are over $100 billion annually, or $2,000 per family.

* Insurance Reform. Guarantee insurability due to pre-existing illness. Eliminate Insurance company antitrust exemption.


Mission Statement

We are an organization of concerned physicians committed to the establishment of a health care system that preserves the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship, promotes quality of care, supports affordable access to all Americans, and protects patients' freedom of choice.

We urge patients and physicians to get involved in order to preserve the good qualities of our healthcare system, address the problems, while preventing it's bureaucratic destruction . Please follow these recommendations for ACTION.

[RedRamage]

Home* There is no logical reason to hastily pass this legislation by a predetermined deadline. We have one chance to get this right.

Agree that we should proceed slowly. Disagree that we have only one shot ti get it right. Granted, it we REALLY mess it up bad, it'll be harder, most costly, and more lengthy to fix it, but we can always make adjustments along the way.

* Bring "all" stakeholders together to help assure a meaningful and sustainable reform by considering many recommendations and proposals.

Agree with this. I do wonder if "all" stakeholders aren't already being brought together? Who is being left out right now?

* Adopt a patient-centered approach to healthcare reform that empowers patients and promotes freedom of choice.

Totally agree on this.

* Use the power of government to assist the uninsured obtain health coverage through modification of the tax code, such as tax credits and vouchers.

I thinking this might be a good idea.

* Reduce high insurance premiums by opening up patient risk pools across the entire nation, thereby, diffusing risk.

Don't understand how this would work, so I can't comment positive or negative.

* Allow the individual/family to be the "owner" of the policy making their health care coverage portable and available if they lose their job or move to a new place of employment. This will eliminate exclusion from the new employer's plan for a “pre-existing” health issue and also eliminate a waiting period to qualify for enrollment.

This, in theory, sounds good. But isn't part of the benefit of committing large groups together a lowering of rates? Maybe that's what the previous point is talking about "lowing risks." If we make these plans truly portable, don't we eliminate this benefit?

* Encourage and expand Health Savings Accounts. Tax-Free savings vehicle for planned and/or unexpected medical expenses.

Totally agree, although I myself wouldn't take advantage of this. I think these plans encourage health people to lead healthy lives as fewer doctor's visits means less expense for them. Myself, I'm not a healthy individual. I suffer from Kidney Stones, Arthritis in my spine, Bone Spurs in my neck, and I've already had one herniated disk. I want good, extensive coverage, and I'm willing to pay more for it.

* Tort Reform. The costs to our healthcare system secondary to the practice of defensive medicine are over $100 billion annually, or $2,000 per family.

Agree, though I do question how significant this would really be. I think those in favor of this tend to play up the benefits. I doubt any tort reform would reduce that number to $50 billion annually. $2K per family sounds impressive, but that at best I expect to see tort reform reduce that to perhaps $1.5K per family, and the end users aren't going to suddenly see $500 more per year in their paychecks even if it does go that far.

Insurance Reform. Guarantee insurability due to pre-existing illness. Eliminate Insurance company antitrust exemption.

I think this would do a lot more to help those moving from job to job than making insurance "portable" would.