LSMS Letter: Look at Health Care Alternatives on Louisiana Medical News

LSMS Letter: Look at Health Care Alternatives

By: La State Medical Society

The Advocate- Baton Rouge, La.
September 15, 2009

Look at health-care alternatives

The eyes of the nation will be fixed on Washington, D.C., as the Congress has returned and we enter the most critical period in the national health-care-reform debate.

The challenge is to improve our system by making it more affordable and accessible for all Americans without sacrificing choice and quality of care.

Solutions must focus on ways to change the system the right way, and not dismantle it and destroy its fundamental strengths.

The reform debate has touched on the nation’s core values, and people have become engaged in discussion across America.

The choice for reform is not just between President Barack Obama’s plan and the status quo. Members of Congress should turn their attention to alternatives already introduced by Democrats and Republicans.

The Louisiana State Medical Society supports reforms that strengthen:

Choice — Patients choose their coverage and have choice of physician and medical care delivery setting.

Access — All citizens should be able to obtain and keep basic health-care coverage, regardless of a pre-existing medical condition, catastrophic illness or loss of employment.

Cost — There should be market and insurance reforms that encourage competition, reward innovation, promote healthy lifestyles and eliminate fraud and abuse.
Quality — Patient-care decisions remain in the hands of physicians and patients without interference from government or insurance bureaucracies.

Provide the right care at the right time in the right setting. Reform done the right way will take an open-minded, constructive approach to develop a consensus on legislation.

The physicians of Louisiana will work with the Louisiana delegation and the Congress to pass reform legislation that is reasonable, puts the patient in the driver’s seat and does not add to the accumulating debt that threatens the future of our country.

Roger D. Smith, M.D., president
Louisiana State Medical Society
Baton Rouge

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