Health Care Reform

Both houses of Congress are debating comprehensive health system reform, aimed at expanding the number of insured Americans, controlling the growth of health care spending, improving Americans' health status and supporting quality improvement initiatives.

Overview and Background

House and Senate Bill Summaries

• American Medical Association | Summary of Major Provisions; Comparisons to AMA Policy | Updated Dec. 21, 2009 (.pdf, 36 pages)
• Kaiser Family Foundation | Detailed Comparison of House and Senate Legislation | Updated Dec. 23, 2009 (.pdf, 24 pages)

House Legislation

• Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) | Full text, passed by the House on Nov. 7, 2009 (.pdf, 2,016 pages)
• Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 3961) | Full text, passed by the House on Nov. 19, 2009 (.pdf, 13 pages)

Senate Legislation

• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) | Full text, passed by Senate on Dec. 24, 2009 | Updated Dec. 30, 2009 (.pdf, 2,409 pages)
• Congressional Budget Office analysis of Manager's Amendment | Dec. 19, 2009 (.pdf, 38 pages)

American Medical Association

• AMA Principles for Health System Reform | June 2009
• AMA Health System Reform Bulletin | Subscribe

Massachusetts Health Care Reform

• The Facts About Massachusetts Health Reform | Updated Nov. 3, 2009
  MMS fact sheet covers Massachusetts legislation's impact on:
  - Patients' access to care
  - The costs of health care reform
  - Physician and public support
  - Primary care workforce issues

MMS Stance

• MMS supports efforts to achieve universal insurance coverage for all citizens.
  
  
• Health care coverage should be universal.
  
  
• Health care coverage should be continuous.
  
  
• Health care coverage should be affordable to individuals and families.
  
  
• The health insurance strategy should be affordable and sustainable for society.
  
  
• Health insurance should enhance health and well-being by promoting access to high-quality care that is effective, efficient, safe, timely, patient-centered, and equitable.
  
  
• Coverage should include a non-disruptive and evolutionary approach that is politically and economically viable and sustainable, and includes quality and public health components.
  
  
• Health care coverage should be sufficiently comprehensive to provide meaningful health care, and be affordable and obtainable through appropriate purchasing pools for individuals or smaller employers.
  
  
• Coverage should offer a bi-modal approach of expanding public and private payer responsibilities. Patients should have a choice between private and public financing.
  
  
• Coverage should include Individual and employer mandates, provided that affordable private health insurance and/or appropriate subsidies are made available.
  

MMS Achievements

• MMS supported the enactment of Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, which established mechanisms to provide health insurance coverage to every citizen of Massachusetts.
  
  
• MMS asserted that for patients to have access to health care, physician practices must be adequately reimbursed for the additional services they would provide under Chapter 58. As a result, the MMS successfully sought $81 million of reimbursement increases for physicians over a three-year period beginning in FY 2007.