MMA News
Massachusetts Uninsured Rate Drops Following Reforms
Since Massachusetts passed legislation requiring health insurance coverage for everyone in April 2006, the uninsurance rate among adults in that state has dropped by almost half, according to an Urban Institute study.
The Massachusetts law features an “individual mandate” that requires state residents to purchase “creditable” health insurance if “affordable” coverage is available.
The rate of uninsured adults fell from 13 percent in the fall of 2006 to 7.1 percent in the fall of 2007.
The study shows that access to care for low-income Massachusetts adults has increased and that the share of adults with high out-of-pocket health care costs and difficulty paying medical bills has dropped. It also found no evidence that the Bay State’s expansion of publicly subsidized coverage has “crowded out” employer-sponsored coverage.
The report has implications for the campaign to require health insurance for all in Minnesota, which has long been part of the Minnesota Medical Association’s vision for health care reform. In May, Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed into law a health care reform bill that will bring Minnesota closer to the goal of universal coverage by extending coverage to an estimated 12,000 more Minnesotans.
The Urban Institute’s findings are based on two rounds of telephone interviews with randomly selected Massachusetts adults ages 18 to 64 in the fall of 2006—just prior to implementation of key elements of the state’s reforms—and the fall of 2007.
MMA Sends Action Alerts about Medicare Payment Cut
The MMA sent out two Action Alerts to members in June urging them to call their lawmakers and tell them to vote in favor of bills stopping a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare physician reimbursement scheduled to go into effect July 1.
On June 24, the House voted to the stop the cut, passing H.R. 6331. All of Minnesota’s representatives, except Michele Bachmann, 6th District, voted for the bill. The Senate was still trying to negotiate a compromise bill at that time.
An earlier bill sponsored by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), S. 3101, failed to pass, although both of Minnesota’s senators, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar, voted in favor of it and it had the support of the AMA.
AMA Annual Meeting Turns Up the Heat on Universal Coverage, Fair Reimbursement
The Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) in Chicago in June brought together about 4,000 AMA members, including a delegation from the MMA, chaired by Frank Indihar, M.D., who said he returned to Minnesota inspired and energized.
Indihar said Ron Davis, M.D., president of the AMA, gave an “inspiring and courageous” keynote address. Davis, who is suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer, spoke about the circle of life. “It was a beautiful valedictory for him,” Indihar said.
Nancy Nielsen, M.D., of Buffalo, New York, was inaugurated as AMA president. She is the second woman to hold the organization’s highest elected office.
The Minnesota delegation introduced a resolution asking the AMA to consider asking specialty societies to include information in mailings to their members about the AMA’s advocacy efforts. The resolution was referred to the AMA Board of Trustees to consider along with their other membership initiatives.
Only days before a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement was scheduled to take effect, the need to reform the Medicare payment system was a unifying issue at the AMA meeting. “A major effort is underway to lobby Congress on the unfortunate, scheduled Medicare payment reductions,” Indihar said.
The Minnesota delegation joined the AMA and other state and specialty delegations in signing a letter to all senators urging them to break the legislative gridlock and pass legislation that would prevent the cut and avert a crisis in access to care.
“If Congress fails to act, physicians will be forced to make difficult practice decisions that will affect seniors’ access to care, as well as physicians’ office employees,” the letter said. “There is no acceptable excuse for the Senate and the House to fail to pass legislation to fulfill commitments Congress has made to avert Medicare physician payment cuts.”
In other highlights of the meeting, the AMA House of Delegates
- Reinforced the AMA’s commitment to achieving universal health insurance coverage and voted to study the effect of free clinics on improving access to health care and the tax treatment of health savings accounts. Two new television ads supporting universal coverage were unveiled at the meeting and will begin to air across the country this fall.
- Adopted a new policy to address the growing debt burden of medical students. The AMA will support a requirement that medical schools inform students of all government and private loan opportunities, and will require medical schools to disclose why certain lenders are preferred. The policy also calls on the AMA to support transparency in how medical schools spend tuition and fee increases;
- Adopted nine guiding principles on medical tourism; and
- Called for the modification of current law to allow pilot studies on financial incentives for cadaveric organ donation.
Delegates also adopted resolutions on the following topics:
- A rating system for processed foods. This new policy asks for an easier-to-understand food labeling system to help consumers and encourage manufacturers to produce healthier products;
- Opposition to the addition of flavors to cigarettes. The AMA supports state legislation to prohibit the sale or distribution of flavored tobacco products as an effort to keep youth tobacco-free.
- Banning tobacco sales in stores with health clinics. Retail-based clinics are often located in stores that sell tobacco products. The AMA voted to support efforts to ban the sale of tobacco products in outlets housing these clinics.
MMA Website Wins Award for Excellence
The MMA’s redesigned website, www.mmaonline.net, has been honored by the Midwest Society of Association Executives (MSAE) with an award for communications excellence. The award was presented at MSAE’s annual meeting in St. Paul May 21.
The website competed against dozens of other association sites in the region. Judges in the competition cited the site’s ease of navigation, its overall attractiveness, and the depth of its information.
The new version of the MMA website has been up since October of 2007.