2011 Public Policy Agenda
Metro Med is involved in advocacy efforts related to the most vital issues in medicine today, including medical liability reform, physician payment reform, expanding coverage for the uninsured and increasing access to care, improving the public health, managed care reform, and others.
Health Care Reform
• Monitor implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and support certain modifications to make the implementation more fair and appropriate to private practice physicians.
• Support a state health benefit exchange and sufficient funding for Medicaid that ensures a robust network of physicians by raising physician reimbursement at least to Medicare level.
• Insist that physicians be included on advisory panels formed to implement the ACA.
• Support ensuring all Medicaid programs are structured and geared to maximize all available resources outside Missouri general revenue, including federal matching dollars
• Support innovative outreach and enrollment strategies for uninsured individuals who are eligible for state health coverage options, including Medicaid
• Support innovation among physicians and hospitals to improve collaboration to benefit health care in Kansas City
Medical Liability Reform
To preserve patients’ access to care and help reduce health care costs, Metro Med will continue to lead an aggressive, multi-year campaign to reduce medical liability premiums and to fix the broken medical liability system for both patients and physicians:
• At the federal level, the Metro Med is urging Congress to pass reforms at least as stringent as those enacted in Kansas and Missouri, including a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, as well as provide funding for state-based pilot programs to develop promising alternative reforms, such as health courts, administrative determination of compensation, early offers, and safe harbors for the practice of evidence-based medicine.
• In Missouri, expand medical liability coverage of the Missouri State Legal Expense Fund to Northland CARE/MetroCARE volunteer physicians, their staffs, and their practices.
• In Kansas and Missouri, defend previously enacted medical liability reform laws as they are challenged in legislatures and the courts to protect access to affordable, quality health care.
Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Metro Med will continue to lead physicians’ efforts to measurably improve patient safety and quality of care.
• Support enhanced performance of health information exchanges in the region and state
• Aggressively demand fairness in public quality reporting
Physician Payment, Regulatory Relief and Fairness
Medicare Payment
As the leading force in Kansas City for physician payment, including Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance, Metro Med will be relentless in the battle to replace the flawed Medicare physician payment formula and increase physician payment. We encourage Congress to correct major weaknesses in the structure of the Medicare program and enact stable, adequate annual Medicare physician payment updates. Metro Med also pushes Congress and federal agencies and state legislatures and agencies to reduce costly and counterproductive administrative burdens and to eliminate unfunded mandates, which interfere with access to quality care for Kansas City’s patients. Metro Med engages in advocacy on regulatory relief and fairness for physicians. This advocacy includes submitting comment letters on proposed federal and state rules as well as Metro Med responses to private insurance issues in our local market.
Balance Billing and Limiting Charges Rules
Metro Med supports federal legislation to bring about the implementation of Medicare balance billing, including but not limited to relaxing the Limiting Charge Rules. Under Medicare, certain physicians may opt to bill patients a portion of what Medicare does not cover for medical services. This is called “balance billing” but Medicare strictly limits how much physicians may balance bill their patients. Many private payers also restrict or prohibit physicians from balance billing their patients.
Managed Care Reform
Metro Med will continue to oppose third-party interference with the physician-patient relationship, including advancing antitrust reform, eliminating unnecessary hassles and unfair payment practices; and fighting for reimbursement decisions that are based on optimal patient care, not economics.
Physician Workforce
• Support economic development and workforce initiatives to encourage physicians to practice in the Kansas City area including loan repayment and tax credit programs
• Support federal health care reform regulations to encourage health care workforce development including increased funding for Graduate Medical Education (GME) to address the impending physician workforce shortage
• Foster an environment where independent practice continues to be a viable practice model
Professionalism
• Encourage resolution of inter-specialty disputes outside of the legislative process
• Discourage disease-specific legislative mandates
• Defend physician scope of practice
Public Health
• Support a Missouri statewide smoke-free law that covers all workplaces, including bars, restaurants and casinos
• Support higher state taxes on tobacco products
• Support efforts to protect the public health
Uninsured and Underinsured
• Support core funding for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and other safety net health care providers to maintain and expand services and sites in Kansas and Missouri
• Support state tax credit for charity care provided through Northland CARE/MetroCARE
• Support efforts to modernize and improve the Medicaid program in order to increase efficiencies including maintaining Medicaid funding at levels that allow Missouri and Kansas to sustain vital safety net coverage for children and families and important medical education programs
• Fully support reauthorization of the Kansas City Health Levy and its current funding structure