House passes CHIP reauthorization
The House of Representatives passed legislation reauthorizing funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for five years. Passed in early November by a 242-174 vote, the Championing Healthy Kids Act (H.R. 3922), also includes reauthorizations of other significant programs, including the Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program.
The AMA sent a letter supporting (PDF) House passage of the legislation. The letter also opposed the use of the Public Health and Prevention Fund as an offset while urging Congress to continue efforts to identify alternative offsets for the package. The Senate has not scheduled a vote on CHIP reauthorization as it is continuing to discuss how to offset the cost of the reauthorizations in a manner that garners bipartisan support.
Energy and Commerce Committee holds hearing on APMs
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing Nov. 8 that focused on developing options for value-based care with regard to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and alternative payment models. The first witness panel consisted of representatives from the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory (PTAC).
The PTAC was established under MACRA to make comments and recommendations to the Health and Human Services secretary on proposals for physician-focused payment models. Testimony from PTAC representatives, Jeffrey Bailet, MD, and Elizabeth Mitchell, MD, focused on the group's work with physicians and suggested the need for clarification from Congress on its ability to provide technical assistance in development of alternative payment models (APMs).
A second panel consisted of physician organizations representing different specialties and practice sizes that participate in APMs. The AMA provided a statement (PDF) highlighting examples of physician-focused APMs, encouraged congressional action to clarify PTAC's ability to provide technical assistance and made policy recommendations to address challenges for APM participants and developers. Additional hearings on MACRA implementation are expected.
House moves to expand veterans' access to telemedicine
AMA-supported legislation that recently passed the House would expand access to health care services for veterans being treated within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system through telemedicine.
The Veterans E-Health and Telemedicine Support (VETS) Act of 2017 (H.R. 2123) would authorize physicians and other health care professionals, who are employed directly by the VA and possess the appropriate licenses, to provide telehealth services to VA beneficiaries without regard to the location of the patient or the health professional.
This bill, introduced by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), would address the significant and unique need to expand access to health care services for veterans being treated within the VA system while also ensuring that important patient protections remain in place, including the direct oversight, accountability, training and quality control specific to VA-employed physicians and other health care professionals.
Importantly, the bill does not authorize a contracted physician or other health care professional who is not directly employed by the VA to provide health care services via telemedicine to a VA patient located in a state in which the contracted physician or other health care professional is not licensed. The Senate is unlikely to directly consider the companion bill (S. 925), which was introduced by Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA). The measure is expected to be included in legislation in the House and Senate that will reform and reauthorize the VA Choice program.
News from the 2017 AMA Interim Meeting
As another Interim Meeting came to a close this week, physicians adopted a number of new policies to improve the health of the nation. Highlights include opposition to Medicaid work requirements, the removal of categories from the essential health benefits (EHB) package and waivers of EHB requirements that could lead to the elimination of EHB categories and their associated protection against annual or lifetime benefit limits and out-of-pocket expenses.
The AMA House of Delegates also adopted a new policy that seeks to facilitate consistent coverage of genetic medicine and more transparency in how coverage is being determined. The new policy calls for more transparency and clarity in the processes that determine coverage and payment. Read more AMA Wire. Read more news coverage of the 2017 AMA Interim Meeting.
