Senate Doctors Say Obamacare Will Change How New Doctors Practice Medicine
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators and doctors Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) and John Barrasso, M.D. (R-WY) sent an open letter to American medical students. The letter outlines how the President’s new health care law will negatively impact future generations of doctors and their patients.
Earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius also sent a letter to medical students.
Excerpts from the Coburn-Barrasso letter:
“As practicing physicians, we congratulate you on your choice of the profession of medicine. By choosing to become a physician, you have dedicated your time, talent, and skill in service to others – our families, our communities, our nation, and our world. We applaud that commitment, enthusiasm, and devotion.
“Certainly the practice of medicine has evolved dramatically since we underwent our medical school training and began private practice. But a basic tenant of medicine remains the same – nothing should come between a doctor and a patient.
“We write to you a few months after Congress passed sweeping health care legislation that will significantly change the doctor-patient relationship. Instead of making it easier for doctors to connect with their patients, the new health care law gives Washington more power to determine care.
“Washington already funds 60 percent of health care in America. The health care law increases Washington’s role by creating more than 150 boards and entities invested with new powers that will inevitably intrude on the patient-physician relationship.
“The new law also encourages ‘cookbook medicine’ with new comparative effectiveness authorities that will make coverage determinations based on cost – rather than what may be best for individual patients. Another similar new entity is an Independent Payment Advisory Board – a panel of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who are empowered to administer top-down reimbursement cuts designed to reduce federal health care spending.
“We fear that many changes in the law will cause doctors to simply leave private practice or drop out of medicine altogether. The law incentivizes integrated care teams, which is indeed worthwhile. But the law’s changes will also push physicians toward greater centralization, which could negatively impact patient access to medical care.
“Unfortunately, political passion overtook good policy. Now, health insurance costs will continue to rise. Bureaucrats and politicians will have more control, while patients and doctors will have less.
“Congress may have passed legislation, but the health reform debate is far from over. In the weeks and years ahead, we will continue to express our concerns about this new law. We will fight to improve health care in America through choice, competition, and technical innovation. And we can do it without raising taxes that kill jobs in a bad economy.
“We encourage you to add your voice to the discussion. As physicians, what you think matters to us – and to patients all across America.”
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