Ten Commandments of Health Care Reform

1. Health care reform shall transfer power to PATIENTS, doctors, nurses, and allied health care professionals, and away from government and corporations.
2. We shall have the best health care in the world.
3. Health care reform shall be simple.
4. Patients shall be the most powerful people in the health care system.
5. Patients shall be in charge of spending the money.
6. Patients shall be told the price of everything in advance or they don't have to pay.
7. Patients shall be able to get their medical records instantly and easily.
8. Health care shall be based on science.
9. Health care shall encourage prevention.
10. The Ten Commandments of Health Care Reform shall be adopted.

Bradley R. Hennenfent, M.D.
patient, physician, and economist
retired due to injury and illness

H.R.2516 The Medical Rights Act of 2009

H.R.2516 The Medical Rights Act of 2009 - more on this bill later.

Transfer Power to the Patients

The most important thing in health care reform is to transfer power to patients and away from corporations and government. This is what will ultimately save lives and help people the most.

Bradley R. Hennenfent, M.D.
patient, physician, and economist
retired

American Medical Associations Six Principles for Health Care Reform

AMA Principles for Health System Reform (HSR)

Improving the U.S. health care system

Expand coverage

• Provide affordable, essential health insurance coverage for all
• Promote a robust private insurance market
• Ensure sustainable public programs for vulnerable populations

Improve quality

• Provide real time data at point of care
• Use measurement as a tool, not an end point
• Correct problems with the Physicians Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)

Reform government programs

• Ensure adequate payments
• Enable balance billing and private contracting
• Replace Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR)
• Allow public subsidies for purchasing private insurance

Reduce costs

• Break down silos and reward physicians for reducing costs
• Enact medical liability reforms
• Streamline insurance claims processing

Increased focus on wellness/prevention

• Align insurance benefit design with prevention evidence
• Make public investments in education, community projects, and nutrition
• Eliminate racial, ethnic, and gender disparities

Payment and delivery reforms

• Promote medical home and other steps to reward care coordination of chronic disease
• Provide antitrust relief to improve quality and care coordination
• Conduct adequate testing of new payment models

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/advocacy/current-topics-advocacy/health-system-reform/ama-hsr-principles.shtml

The AMA's six principles of Health Care Reform

The AMA's six principles of Health Care Reform:
1. Expanded coverage
2. Improve quality
3. Reform government programs
4. Reduce costs
5. Increased focus on wellness/prevention
6. Payment and delivery reforms

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/advocacy/current-topics-advocacy/health-system-reform.shtml

Stop Screening for Pre-Existing Diseases

To get health insurance you usually have to answer "'no" to the health questions on the application. We need to stop this screening for pre-existing diseases.

If the risk pool is made to be large enough there will be no need for these questions.

These domains now point to this blog as do many other domains such as PatientsTakingOverHealthCareReform.org:

PhysiciansTakingOver.org
PhysiciansTakingOver.com
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PhysiciansTakingOverHCR.org
PhysiciansTakingOverHCR.com
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PhysiciansTakingOverHealthCareReform.org
PhysiciansTakingOverHealthCareReform.com