American Medical Association
Rep. Tom Price, MD (R-GA) introduced H.R. 1700, the Medicare Patient Empowerment Act, on May 3, 2011. This bill, in line with AMA policy, would allow Medicare patients and their physicians to enter into private contracts without penalty to either party. It would enable beneficiaries to use their Medicare benefits to see physicians who do not accept Medicare, as opposed to paying for the entire cost of their care out-of-pocket as required under current law. On May 22, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced S. 1042, the Medicare Patient Empowerment Act, in the Senate.
AMA letters expressing “strong support for this legislation”:
To Rep. Tom Price:
http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/washington/hr1700-ama-letter-of-support.pdf
To Sen. Lisa Murkowski:
http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/washington/s1042-ama-letter-of-support.pdf
Medical organizations supporting this legislation:
http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/washington/medicare-patient-empowerment-sign-on-letter.pdf
And…
Existing law (excerpts):
Sec. 1802.
Use of Private Contracts by Medicare Beneficiaries.—
(1) In general.—Subject to the provisions of this subsection, nothing in this title shall prohibit a physician or practitioner from entering into a private contract with a medicare beneficiary for any item or service—
A) for which no claim for payment is to be submitted under this title, and
(B) for which the physician or practitioner receives—
(i) no reimbursement under this title directly or on a capitated basis, and
(ii) receives no amount for such item or service from an organization which receives reimbursement for such item or service under this title directly or on a capitated basis.
(B) Items required to be included in contract.—Any contract to provide items and services to which paragraph (1) applies shall clearly indicate to the medicare beneficiary that by signing such contract the beneficiary—
(i) agrees not to submit a claim (or to request that the physician or practitioner submit a claim) under this title for such items or services even if such items or services are otherwise covered by this title;
(ii) agrees to be responsible, whether through insurance or otherwise, for payment of such items or services and understands that no reimbursement will be provided under this title for such items or services;
(iii) acknowledges that no limits under this title (including the limits under section 1848(g)) apply to amounts that may be charged for such items or services;
(iv) acknowledges that Medigap plans under section 1882do not, and other supplemental insurance plans may elect not to, make payments for such items and services because payment is not made under this title; and
(v) acknowledges that the medicare beneficiary has the right to have such items or services provided by other physicians or practitioners for whom payment would be made under this title.
(B) Affidavit.
(ii) the affidavit provides that the physician or practitioner will not submit any claim under this title for any item or service provided to any medicare beneficiary (and will not receive any reimbursement or amount described in paragraph (1)(B) for any such item or service) during the 2–year period beginning on the date the affidavit is signed
http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title18/1802.htm
And…
Proposed law
H.R. 1700 and S. 1042 (excerpts):
Section 1802 of the Social Security Act is amended to read as follows:
(b) Freedom To Contract by Medicare Beneficiaries-
`(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to the provisions of this subsection, nothing in this title shall prohibit a Medicare beneficiary from entering into a contract with a participating or non-participating physician or practitioner for any item or service covered under this title.
(B) ITEMS REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED IN CONTRACT- Any contract to provide items and services to which paragraph (1) applies shall clearly indicate to the Medicare beneficiary that by signing such contract the beneficiary–
`(i) agrees to be responsible for payment to such physician or practitioner for such items or services under the terms of and amounts established under the contract;
`(ii) agrees to be responsible for submitting claims under this title to the Secretary, and to any other supplemental insurance plan that may provide supplemental insurance, for such items or services furnished under the contract if such items or services are covered by this title, unless otherwise provided in the contract under subparagraph (C)(i); and
`(iii) acknowledges that no limits or other payment incentives that may otherwise apply under this title (such as the limits under subsection (g) of section 1848 or incentives under subsection (a)(5), (m), (q), and (p) of such section) shall apply to amounts that may be charged, or paid to a beneficiary for, such items or services.
SEC. 3. PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS LIMITING CHARGES FOR PHYSICIAN AND PRACTITIONER SERVICES.
(a) In General- No State may impose a limit on the amount of charges for services, furnished by a physician or practitioner, for which payment is made under section 1848 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4), and any such limit is hereby preempted.
http://thomas.loc.gov (enter either H.R.1700 or S.1042)
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Sadly, the American Medical Association is showing once again whom they really represent – physicians, but not their patients. This legislation would greatly enhance physician revenues at a considerable cost to their Medicare patients. It would allow physicians to require their patients to pay the full balance of their unrestricted fees, even if far in excess of Medicare allowable charges.
Current law prohibits physicians from billing the patient for any charges other than deductibles and coinsurance that are applied to allowable charges only. All fees beyond the allowable amount must be adjusted off. The only exception is that a physician may enter into a private contract with a patient who agrees to pay the full amount, but only if the physician and patient agree to not bill Medicare for even the allowed charges, and the physician agrees to not bill Medicare for any other patient for a minimum of two years.
Even though we often hear threats that physicians will stop seeing Medicare patients, most really can’t afford to give up their Medicare revenues, and, besides, too many Medicare beneficiaries do not have adequate resources to pay large medical bills in full. The current law provides leverage to ensure that physicians will be there when Medicare patients need them.
The Price/Murkowski legislation would no longer require physicians to exit the Medicare program entirely should they enter agreements to independently bill the patients for the balance of their fees. Also Medicare would still have to pay the allowed charges. As a further insult, the physician can require the patient to do their own Medicar
e billing. The physician gets the full fee, in cash, including the disallowed charges, and the patient has to do the paperwork. Nice guys, AMA!
If physicians were allowed to bill for the balance of the charges, Medicare as we know it would be destroyed. It is a more direct and more powerful method of shifting payment from the government to individual patients – far worse than the cost shift that would occur with the Ryan premium support proposal for Medicare. Since the greatest contributor to our excessive health care spending is our high prices, the Price/Murkowski legislation would cause health care spending to skyrocket because there would be no limits on physician pricing.
If you check the list of endorsing medical organizations at the link above, it is an embarrassment to those of us who have always thought that the patient comes first, but there is one consolation. Conspicuously absent from the list are the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Physicians. Thankfully, our nation’s primary care physicians still believe that our patients really do come first.