Minnesota Physicians Send Message To President Obama

PR Log (Press Release) – Sep 11, 2009 – MINNEAPOLIS – The physicians of Minnesota are hoping that President Barack Obama will say that payment reform, particularly Medicare payment reform, needs to be part of national health care reform when he speaks at the Target Center Saturday.  

“One of the key things we want to hear from President Obama is that he will implement  a value index for Medicare payment that will result in Minnesota providers being rewarded for the relatively low-cost, high-quality care they provide,” said Dr. Noel Peterson, president of the Minnesota Medical Association.

The MMA has been supporting a bill introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar that would create such a value index. The Medicare Payment Improvement Act would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create a value index for determining how to improve distribution of Medicare payments for physician services.  Current distribution is based exclusively on the number, or volume, of services provided; the proposed alternative would require some recognition of the quality and cost of services actually delivered.

The goal of the legislation is to create a payment system that acknowledges appropriate utilization of high-quality health care services and more fairly distributes Medicare’s resources.  The MMA supports the Klobuchar bill and believes physicians in Minnesota, and most of the upper Midwest, would likely benefit from such a change in payment structure.

Peterson said that he sees the wisdom of Obama speaking about health care reform in Minnesota, since the state has been trying to achieve many of the same goals of universal coverage and affordability. The MMA was instrumental in passing Minnesota’s 2008 Health Care Reform Act.

“I hope that Obama is going to point to Minnesota’s efforts and say this is what the nation needs to do and where it needs to go,” Peterson said.

At a very minimum, Peterson said, he hopes that national reform will not negatively impact Minnesota. “For example, a public option based on current Medicare payment rates would be devastating for Minnesota,” Peterson said.

Overall, Peterson said that he is pleased that Obama has recognized the high quality care that is provided to patients in Minnesota and that he chose the North Star State as the site of his first major health care address after his speech before Congress Wednesday.

“The physicians of Minnesota think that change is needed and that the nation should not miss this chance to achieve the goals of universal coverage, increased prevention efforts, payment reform, and insurance reform.”