Medical Association Announces 2019 State and Federal Agendas

The Medical Association Board of Censors has met and approved the Association’s 2019 State and Federal Agendas. These agendas were developed with guidance from the House of Delegates and input from individual physicians. As the Alabama Legislature and U.S. Congress begin their work for 2019, additional items affecting physicians, medical practices and patients may be added to this list.

2019 STATE AGENDA

The Medical Association supports:

• Legislation prohibiting deceptive health care advertising and requiring all health care professionals to clearly identify their type of license to patients
• Reforming the “certificate of need” process to increase physician ownership of equipment and facilities and expand access to quality, affordable care
  • The recommendations of the Rural Health Taskforce:
  • Increased in funding for the Board of Medical Scholarship Awards (BMSA),
  • Broaden the rural physician tax credit,
  • Promote continued support for the Rural Medical Program and the Rural Medical Scholars Program
  • Expansion of the model Huntsville Rural Premedical Internship program to other medical school campuses
  • Increased funding for the Alabama Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program
• Medicaid expansion
• Increasing physician Medicaid payments to Medicare levels for all specialties of medicine
• Increased funding for the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to continue transforming it into a useful tool for physician monitoring of patients at risk for drug interactions and overdose potential
• Requirements for vaccine registry review prior to administration and uploading patient vaccine information into the database
• Strengthening existing tort reforms and ensuring liability system stability
• Continued physician compounding, dispensing of drugs
• The same standards and reimbursements for telehealth and face-to-face visits
• Reforming the “certificate of need” process to increase physician ownership of equipment and facilities and expand access to quality, affordable care

The Medical Association opposes:

• Any scope of practice expansion which could lower quality of care for or increase costs for patients including, but not limited to, eliminating the referral requirement for physical therapy; allowing optometrists to perform eye surgery and injections; expanding podiatric surgical allowances; and, abolishing collaborative practice, supervisory agreements and/or supervision requirements between physicians and nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurse anesthetists.
• Legislation or other initiatives that could increase lawsuits against physicians
• Non-physicians setting standards for medical care delivery
• Tax increases disproportionately affecting physicians
• Expanding Prescription Drug Monitoring Program access for law enforcement
• Statutory requirements for mandatory Prescription Drug Monitoring Program checks
• Expansion of Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements
• Changes to workers’ compensation laws negatively affecting treatment of injured workers and medical practices
• Biologic substitution legislation containing insufficient quality and notification requirements and which increases administrative burdens on physicians

2019 FEDERAL AGENDA 

The Medical Association supports:

• Meaningful tort reforms that maintain existing state protections
• Reducing administrative and regulatory burdens on physicians and medical practices
• Repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replacement with a system that:
  • Includes meaningful tort reforms that maintain existing state protections
  • Preserves employer-based health insurance
  • Protects coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions and for dependents under age 26
  • With proper oversight, allows the sale of health insurance across state lines
  • Allows for deducting individual health insurance expenses on tax returns
  • Increases allowed contributions to health savings accounts
  • Ensures access for vulnerable populations and does not increase uncompensated care
  • Ensures universal, catastrophic coverage
  • Does not require adherence with insurance requirements until insurance reimbursement begins
  • Reduces administrative and regulatory burdens
• Overhauling federal fraud and abuse programs and reforming the RAC program
• Prescription drug abuse education, prevention and treatment initiatives
• Allowing patient private contracting in Medicare and expanding veterans’ access to non-VA physicians
• Reducing escalating prescription drug costs
• A patient-centered MACRA framework, including non-punitive and flexible implementation of new MIPS, PQRS and MU requirements
• Better interstate Prescription Drug Monitoring Program connectivity
• Eliminating “pain” as the fifth vital sign
• Requiring all VA facilities, methadone clinics and suboxone clinics to input prescription data into state PDMPs where they are located

The Medical Association opposes:

• Non-physicians setting standards for medical care delivery
• Publication of Medicare physician payment data
• National medical licensure that supersedes state licensure
• Legislation/initiatives increasing lawsuits against physicians