For Immediate Release
June 28, 2012
Contact: Pam Udall
phone: (512) 370-1382
cell: (512) 413-6807
Brent Annear
phone: (512) 370-1381
cell: (512) 656-7320
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The following can be attributed to Michael E. Speer, MD, president of the Texas Medical Association. Dr. Speer’s statement is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to keep the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act intact.
“One thing today’s ruling has not, and cannot, change is Texas physicians’ deep commitment to care for our patients. The well-being of our patients comes first.
"The Texas Medical Association has said since day one that we need to find what’s missing, keep what works, and fix what’s broken in the new law. We absolutely must reduce the law’s red tape and bureaucracy that interfere with patient care. Today’s health care system is riddled with hundreds of regulations imposed by federal health law that do little to improve patient care, but instead divert our time and energy away from our patients.
“The court gave the states flexibility on Medicaid expansion. We desperately need a better system of caring for Texas’ large uninsured population. We need a local/state/federal partnership to design a fair and sustainable system. Top-down mandates are not the answer.
“Specifically, at this critical juncture for our health care system, the physicians of Texas recommend that Congress and the Texas Legislature:
- Protect important consumer insurance protections, such as insurance product labeling and protections for patients with preexisting conditions;
- Immediately fix the broken Medicare physician payment formula;
- Enact Texas-style liability reforms for the rest of the nation;
- Allow Medicare patients to contract directly with their physicians for any covered service;
- Scrap the Independent Payment Advisory Board;
- Lift restrictions on physician hospital ownership;
- Help fund the huge need for more physicians to care for America's growing, elderly population; and
- Rebuild the Medicaid physician network by enacting competitive Medicaid and CHIP physician payments.”
TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing nearly 46,000 physician and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 120 component county medical societies around the state. TMA's key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.
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Last Updated On
March 16, 2018
Originally Published On
June 22, 2012