Posted on 08/26/2009 12:28:31 PM PDT by Son House
Specifically, Mayo reiterated its view against what's been called the "public option" and emphasized the importance of end of life discussions with a patient's physician.
"We do not support the creation of another government-run, government price-controlled, Medicare-like insurance plan," Mayo says in a document.
On Tuesday, Mayo released two documents, "A perspective on current health reform issues from Mayo Clinic" and "A foundation for health care reform legislation." One of the perspectives is co-authored by Mayo CEO Dr. Denis Cortese.
The purpose of the documents is to refocus Mayo's message on health care reform, outline processes legislators can follow in making change, and define terms Mayo has been using such as a value index, said Jane Jacobs of the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center.
"We've talked about these things for a long time, but this is us putting it together in a single place, a single document," she said.
Mayo wanted to release the documents because it's getting many questions about its health care reform positions, and the clinic also wanted to clarify its positions and outline steps to change before Congress returns in September from its August break, Jacobs said.
The documents, which number eight pages between them, focus on health insurance and Medicare payment reforms.
Mayo supports changes that would require Americans to purchase health insurance, provide sliding-scale subsidies to help those in need to buy insurance, prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions, define a minimum health benefit package or actuarial equivalent, and adjust risk levels among enrollees.
Mayo recommends an individual mandate where people can buy insurance through employers, on the individual market, through exchanges, through co-operatives, or through a model like the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan.
The Mayo documents also stress that the Medicare payment system should be reformed to create incentives for caregivers to offer the highest quality care at the most reasonable cost.
Mayo recommends that Congress set a three-year deadline for creating and implementing new Medicare payment methods including value indexing to provide an incentive to provide care of higher quality and lower cost.
Mayo also calls for bundled payments for high-cost conditions. A longer-term recommendation is to develop and implement national value-based care demonstration projects.
Web links
Mayo Clinic's "A foundation for health care reform legislation"
"A perspective on current health reform issues from Mayo Clinic"
Senator AL Franken supports the public option according to the announcement on the radio news, can’t find that in print because they are still covering for the Liberal Socialist
There’s your link. The Senator-Select has spoken. He’s of course completely tone-deaf to the wishes of the American people, but he has spoken.
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