“If Speaker Pelosi and her fellow Democrats are serious about adopting reforms that lower the cost of medical care while empowering patients to obtain the care and coverage that best meet their needs, they would expedite consideration of Chip Roy’s latest bill HR 5596, the Personalized Care Act,” states Association of American Physicians and Surgeons President Kris Held, MD.

AAPS, the voice of Hippocratic medicine since 1943, strongly supports this bill introduced in the House by Rep. Chip Roy (TX), Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ), and Rep. Mike Johnson (LA), and in the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz (TX) and Senator Mike Braun (IN). Putting the patient back in control of care is what is truly needed, and HR 5596 takes important steps in that direction. 

AAPS also gives its strongest support to HR 3594, the Health Freedom Act. This bill by Chip Roy implements additional long needed reforms to help restore autonomy to patients and lower costs, by addressing one of the fundamental policy missteps of the 20th century.

Stemming back to World War II wage controls, 75 years of flawed tax policy that incentivizes employers to control employees’ “health benefits” has unleashed a deluge of unintended consequences. Past attempts by Congress to address the resulting problems have driven costs even higher and have further subjugated patients’ to the interests of government and other third parties.  HR 3594 would address the root of the problem instead of slapping on yet another band-aid that does more harm than good.

AAPS also supports provisions in the bills that would ensure patients with Health Savings Accounts can use the funds to pay for innovative Direct Patient Care agreements that are proven to increase patient access to high-qualilty, lower-cost care. Other bills proposed to make this change fall short of the goal, or even worse, put unwise limitations on how patients and physicians can collaborate directly without the middleman in between them.

Read Full Statement: https://aapsonline.org/physicians-thank-rep-chip-roy/
 

What other reforms are under consideration on Capitol Hill? Don't miss the latest edition of Health Policy Legislative Update by Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD.

The House of Representatives has been embroiled in its impeachment (mis)adventure, but a few health bills have been introduced without any action. In the end it is the philosophical fight between government control or individual control over one’s medical care.

While there is much talk on lowering drug prices, an actual solution remains elusive. On the socialist end of the spectrum, we have Senator Elizabeth Warren proposing a federal drug manufacturing office to monitor and actually produce drugs. The Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act of 2020, S. 3162. 

A companion bill, the Medical Innovation Act of 2020, S. 3163 would assess “supplemental payments” from certain drug manufacturers to “increase congressional investments in medical research.”  

Ex-presidential candidate Cory Booker proposed the Prescription Drug Affordability and Access Act, S. 3166, which would establish another federal agency to suck up our tax dollars: the Bureau of Prescription Drug Affordability and Access whose charge is to discuss how to “attain lower prescription drug costs for patients; decrease government expenditures on prescription drugs; and ensure access to prescription drugs.”

Nancy Pelosi’s Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019, H.R. 3, establishes several programs and requirements relating to the prices of prescription drugs. The bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate prices for certain drugs (current law prohibits the CMS from doing so). Specifically, the CMS must negotiate maximum prices for (1) insulin products; and (2) at least 25 single source, brand name drugs that do not have generic competition and that are among the 125 drugs that account for the greatest national spending or the 125 drugs that account for the greatest spending under the Medicare prescription drug benefit and Medicare Advantage (MA). The negotiated prices must be offered under Medicare and MA, and may also be offered under private health insurance unless the insurer opts out.

Read Full Update: https://aapsonline.org/legislative-update-1-16-2020/

It may be more accurate to describe obesity as a contributor to certain diseases. Obesity raises the risk of premature death, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, gallbladder disease, breathing problems, certain cancers, and osteoarthritis. Certainly, obesity can result from certain uncommon diseases and hereditary factors, but most people become obese simply because they eat too many unhealthy foods and do not exercise.

At its last count, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that 40 percent of U.S. adults age 20 and over, 21 percent of teens, and 14 percent of preschoolers are obese. ...

Let’s confront the elephant in the room. Healthcare policy should promote personal responsibility, rather than encourage free riders. In America we are free to overeat and under-exercise but we have no right to make innocent bystanders pay for the consequences.

Read Full Article: https://aapsonline.org/obesity-americas-self-inflicted-preexisting-condition/