Washington Physicians Want to Improve Patient Access to Care, Address Physician Shortages and Fund Mental/Behavioral Health

OLYMPIA, Wash., Jan. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Washington state is facing critical issues of access to medical care, including a looming physician shortage, questions of payment and insurance coverage, and mental and behavioral health issues. The Washington State Medical Association is working to make sure the voices of physicians are heard to improve patient access to care without putting added burdens on physicians. Physicians and physician assistants from throughout the state are in Olympia today for the WSMA Legislative Summit to meet with their elected officials and talk about issues important to physicians and patients.

"We understand this will be a challenging budget cycle, but we can't lose sight of the fact that through health care reform and Medicaid expansion more than 700,000 people in our state are newly insured," said Brian Seppi, MD, president of the WSMA. "But having access to insurance does not equal access to care and we must make sure people have access to physicians and other providers who are needed to provide that promised care."

There are several key issues important to physicians and patients:

Telemedicine – Our state needs to move forward with covering telemedicine services. Telemedicine saves lives, preserves health and lowers costs by bringing specialists and patients together and improving access to health services.

Grace period claims – About 150,000 people in our state signed up for subsidized health plans on the state's health benefit exchange—and 54 percent of them entered into the grace period for failing to pay their premiums. Seven percent—10,535 individuals—were terminated after 90 days for nonpayment. The financial burden of providing coverage for these individuals should not be on providers.

Student loan repayment – Our workforce is aging with two-thirds of physicians in rural counties age 55 and older. We need to encourage medical practice in underserved areas through student loan repayment assistance. This goes beyond primary care providers to include specialties including mental health.

Graduate medical education – The number one predictor of where a physician chooses to practice is where that physician does his or her residency. Workforce projections show our state needs 876 additional primary care physicians practicing in the state by 2020. Since 2009 funding for the Family Medicine Residency Network has sustained deep cuts. Last year WSMA pushed for $1.3 million to restore the funding but legislators didn't respond. This year the funding request is $16 million for the 2015 to 2017 biennium which would create 66 new residency slots in our state.

Fair Medicaid reimbursement – Our state extended Medicaid to more than 575,000 people who previously did not have coverage. For years Medicaid has reimbursed physicians far below what the actual cost is to provide that care. The state must extend the Medicaid reimbursement increase included as part of the ACA, which aligned Medicaid payments with Medicare payments for selected services. This increase, originally meant to provide an incentive for physicians to see newly insured Medicaid patients, expired in December.

"Our state is already a nationwide leader in many aspects of health policy and we're closer than ever to all Washingtonians having access to care. The state must continue to fulfill the promise made to patients in our state by making sure they have access to the medical care they need," said Dr. Seppi.

For more information on the WSMA or any issues of interest to Washington physicians or patients, please contact Susan Callahan at [email protected] or (206) 794-4706.

SOURCE Washington State Medical Association

Related Links

http://www.wsma.org