DJP 3-2-2005 AMA Update: Letters to the editor WSJ etc; press releases etc; Oregon House Call

 

Just a  quick note.  In Portland, Oregon airport for early morning flight to Monroe, Louisiana for speeches there.  Just finished the House Call here.  Monroe is where the idea of Louisiana's medical liability act started in 1975, thanks to Dr. John Cooksey.  Will be great to visit old friends there.  Spent a lot of time there and in the state capitol in 1975.  My hair was longer and all black!

 

You will have to check out the links below to get the full info on letters.

Thanks.

DJP

Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD

AMA Immediate Past-President

 

ITEM ONE: Letters: WSJ etc.

AMA letters to the editor can be found at:

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/3289.html

Visit to see letters send by AMA leadership.  You will find recent ones by Dr. Rebecca Patchin, Dr. John C. Nelson, and others on our team.

The one below is our letter to the Wall Street Journal published yesterday.

 

Letter to the Editor - Consumer Choice Vital to Health System Reform

 

The Wall Street Journal

 

March 1, 2005

 

By Donald J. Palmisano, M.D., J.D.

 

Holman Jenkins's Feb. 23 Business World commentary "Good Drug, Bad Customers -- II" makes a compelling case for health system reforms that increase patient involvement and choice in their health-care decisions. The American Medical Association has long advocated a system of individually selected and owned health insurance to increase patient choice and help expand health coverage to the uninsured.

 

Under the current system, patients often have limited choices in health plans and limited control over their health-care decisions. Although many Americans obtain health insurance through their employers, the vast majority of employers offer only one plan.

 

The AMA's proposal enables individuals and families to purchase health-insurance coverage by establishing a system of tax credits that are inversely related to income. This shift in choice and ownership would spur insurers to innovate new plans and new forms of coverage, including a wider range of affordable coverage options. The AMA also supports the use of health savings accounts (HSAs) to help patients better manage their medical expenses.

 

Health-care reforms based on consumer choice put patients in the driver's seat. With counsel from physicians, this will lead to decisions based on individual needs and a real understanding of health care costs.

 

—--

ITEM TWO: AMA National House Call visit to Oregon

Dr. John Moorehead, President Oregon Medical Association, and Mrs. Jo Bryson, CEO of OMA, were wonderful hosts and they are very nice people.  Great hospitality by the doctors and staff of OMA.

Opportunity to interact with legislators was exciting.  AMA facts and OMA facts shared with all.  Medical Liability Reform Now! document is a powerful collection of facts that point to the urgent need for medical liability reform.

P.S. Great assistance from AMA's Daniel Blaney-Koen and Darren Streff during this House Call!

 

 

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1578.html

One can find all AMA press releases and statements at this link.

Here are two related to the AMA House Call in Oregon:

 

• AMA and Oregon Physicians Call on Legislature to Enact Proven Medical Liability Reforms
  The AMA National House Call is joining Oregon physicians and patients to urge the legislature to enact proven medical liability reforms to protect patients' access to care.
  Feb 28, 2005
  
   

• AMA: Together we can fix Oregon's medical liability crisis
  Oregon's ongoing medical liability crisis can be fixed if legislators and physicians work together, the AMA testified today before the Oregon State Senate Judiciary Committee as part of an AMA National House Call.
  Feb 28, 2005
   

Together we are stronger!  We will win the battle for medical liability reform.  Americans will demand it.

Stay well.

Off to get on the plane.

DJP