Profession
Specialty physicians issue 2005 legislative agenda
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 13, 2004
America's specialty physicians recently released their legislative priorities for President Bush and the new Congress.
The Alliance of Specialty Medicine, a coalition of 14 national medical specialty societies representing more than 220,000 physicians, issued the following priorities:
- Fix the nation's broken medical liability system by enacting reforms that will reduce frivolous lawsuits and stabilize professional liability insurance costs.
- Review and revise the formula that determines the yearly update physicians receive for treating Medicare beneficiaries.
- Enact and implement important patient safety legislation that protects the confidentiality of doctors and patients in reporting medical outcomes.
"Across the board, candidates who stood up for common-sense health care reforms were the voters' choice in the 2004 election. Now it's time to work with President Bush and the new Congress to develop federal policies that ensure patients will have access to the best medical specialists in the world," Michael J. Wolk, MD, president of the American College of Cardiology, said in a statement. "At both the national and state level during the past several months, health care issues were fully discussed and debated and the American people resoundingly said that they want action. Now it's time to deliver for our patients and their doctors."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/12/13/prbf1213.htm.
