ACP: Governmental Affairs and Public Policy - ACP Expresses Support for the "Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act"

Advocacy

ACP Expresses Support for the "Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act"

October 16, 2006

The Honorable Tammy Baldwin
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Tom Price
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Representatives Baldwin and Price:

On behalf of the American College of Physicians (ACP), representing 120,000 internal medicine physicians and medical students, I want to thank you for introducing the “Health Partnership through Creative Federalism” Act. As the largest medical specialty society and the second largest medical organization in the United States, ACP is committed to expanding health insurance coverage and healthcare access. We greatly appreciate your efforts to expand health insurance coverage for all Americans and to reform the U.S. system of health care.

ACP is pleased that this legislation encourages state innovation to test a variety of diverse reform options, while protecting Americans already enrolled in public and private programs. Federally-supported state experimentation encourages flexibility and allows for highly debated, yet rarely tested health reform proposals to reveal their strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, the voluntary nature of the state application process is much preferable to establishing an unfunded mandate, and we hope that the federal financial support necessary to encourage innovation will be forthcoming.

ACP applauds your effort to ensure bipartisan leadership on the State Health Innovation Commission to oversee the selection of grant applications, monitor state progress, and report to the public on the progress made by each state plan. We would like to see the inclusion of physicians and other clinicians on commissions addressing health care issues.

In any legislation addressing health reform and expansion of health care access, ACP supports the establishment of quality indicators, performance measures and quality-related goals to promote the objective assessment of the effectiveness of care in terms of both cost and quality. ACP also supports the adoption of national health information technology standards, and the incorporation of health information technology and other quality-enhancing infrastructure into healthcare coverage expansion efforts.

We therefore strongly encourage you to provide specific guidance to the Commission on the inclusion of health information technology methodology and quality indicators, so that participating states will be measured not only on their ability to increase coverage and reduce cost, but also to improve quality and health information technology development. It is critical that these established performance measures be reliable, valid and based on sound scientific evidence.

Encouraging innovation through state initiatives can help us move toward better health care in the United States. ACP commends you for your leadership in introducing this legislation, and is confident that the framework in the “Health Partnership through Creative Federalism Act” offers the nation an opportunity to institute innovative programs while controlling health care costs and maintaining a safety net of standardized minimum benefits. We look forward to working with you and lawmakers from both political parties in promoting this legislation and having it enacted into law.

Sincerely,

Lynne M. Kirk, M.D., FACP President