MMA Viewpoint
The Importance of a Unified Message
“United we stand, divided we fall.” Aesop spoke those words almost 3,000 years ago, but his message is still valid today—especially for physicians. There has never been a more important time for us to be unified.
On the state level, we are working hard on health care reform, bringing forward the ideas we developed in our Physicians’ Plan for a Healthy Minnesota. The key elements are a requirement that all Minnesotans have health insurance, a requirement that health plans offer an essential set of benefits to all who apply for coverage, support for a medical home, and support for strengthening our public health system.
MMA physicians are participating in the health care reform groups created by Gov. Tim Pawlenty and by the Minnesota Legislature. One important aspect of health care reform that we will be involved with is the development of the essential benefit set. As the MMA House of Delegates recently affirmed, we also need to make sure that there is adequate reimbursement so physicians can keep up with the cost of maintaining their practices.
On the national level, we are working with the American Medical Association (AMA) and with our state congressional delegation on critical issues such as reauthorization and expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance to uninsured children of low-wage working parents, and stopping the impending cuts in Medicare payments to physicians.
The payers continue pre-authorization and quota programs that demand our comment and, at times, our criticism. Continued regulatory changes and accreditation concerns are ongoing issues for physicians. Although individuals and specialty organizations can certainly speak to these issues, a voice that represents the entire body of physicians is the most effective tool for effecting change.
When I write about involvement and activism in this column, I am preaching to the choir. If you are reading Minnesota Medicine, there is a good chance that you are already engaged in the MMA and in the public debate on health care issues. But it’s time for the choir to carol to nonmembers and urge them to join our congregation. The single most effective way to recruit new members is to ask them. We are doing well with our 11,000 MMA members, but there are about 7,000 more physicians who are not part of the fold. We need to aggressively recruit them.
At this challenging time of flat or diminishing reimbursements and income, physicians are making tough choices about how to spend their resources. People may question whether they can afford to invest their money and time in the MMA. When you look at the outside pressures being brought to bear and the need to be able to effectively present our concerns and ideas, the more appropriate question is, Can you afford not to be a member of the MMA?
It is extremely important that we work together under a common umbrella. Both at the state level and at the national level through the AMA, specialties need to be united. Ronald Davis, M.D., the president of the AMA, said it very simply, “We must do this together.” Outside pressure is coming from payers, governmental entities, and employers, and if they hurt one of us, they hurt all of us. We need to speak with a unified voice for our cause, our concerns, and our patients.