AOA to Trump: Make Access to Affordable Care a Top Priority

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) is urging President-elect Donald Trump and leaders in Congress to concentrate their healthcare reform efforts on boosting access to affordable and value-based medical services.

With Trump and Republican members of Congress vowing to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, AOA President Boyd Buser, DO, is calling for reforms that support the osteopathic mission, which features physicians and patients working together to achieve better health through wellness and prevention.

The American Nurses Association (ANA), the AHA, and AHIP have all written letters to the incoming administration articulating their concerns and wishes for healthcare policy.

"As the incoming Administration and Congress consider potential changes to the healthcare system, the AOA would like to emphasize that as part of this philosophy, it is our priority to ensure access to affordable care and coverage for our patients," Buser wrote in a letter this week.

It was addressed to Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

The organization's prescription for federal healthcare reform initiatives this year includes both broad and specific policy recommendations.

It believes any grand scheme for healthcare reform should be designed to promote stability in the health insurance market and lessen uncertainty.

At a more granular level, changes in the delivery of medical services should help the country's healthcare industry build a "foundation based on prevention and care coordination," Buser wrote.

The letter offers the incoming Trump administration and Congress several suggested building blocks for that foundation:

• Re-examining mandates for use of health information technology that compromises the relationship between physicians and patients
   
• Expanding the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model to more areas of the country
   
• Maintaining the mandate for health plans to provide coverage of preventive services without out-of-pocket expenses for patients
   
• Promoting the development of a stronger physician workforce in rural communities such as payment models that reward physicians for serving rural and underserved populations
   
• Boosting coverage and access to care based on the principle that all patients should have health insurance coverage and access to "a core set of essential benefits and a broad network of physicians to include primary and specialty care across all aspects of medical and behavioral health"
   
• Preserving the law's requirement that health plans provide coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions

The AOA is the accrediting agency for osteopathic medical schools and represents nearly 130,000 osteopathic physicians and medical students.

Texas Health Resources has developed a strategy to both recruit and retain top physicians by remaining competitive in an ever-changing marketplace. Learn THR's top tips for physician recruitment and engagement from this live HealthLeaders Media webcast, Key Physician Recruitment Strategies from Texas Health Resources, on January 11.