PartnerMD update on healthcare reform

Many PartnerMD members have asked our doctors and staff questions about the healthcare reform debate going on in Washington – and in town halls and living rooms across the country. 

The purpose of this communication is to both reinforce how your core membership benefits won’t be affected by legislation, and to educate those members interested in how the healthcare situation all unfolds.

Below you'll find our first update, which provides background and basic facts about the healthcare reform situation:

How could healthcare reform impact PartnerMD members?
In many ways, President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan is attempting to play catch-up with a few of the superior benefits that PartnerMD already provides its members, including a focus on preventive care, a holistic view of health and wellness, and supporting primary care doctors by providing the time and resources they need to provide truly conscientious care.

That is where the similarities end. In fact, if this plan or a similar one passes, it’s likely that those who see traditional primary care physicians – and not doctors operating in a membership medicine model – will face rapid changes. These changes could include more crowded waiting rooms and fewer available appointment times.

We can say this with confidence: No matter what happens in Washington, PartnerMD will be here providing the same excellent physician care we have always provided. And it will most likely exist exactly as you know it right now.

What is currently being proposed?
President Obama is proposing an overhaul to the American healthcare system - and he’s promised to do as much by the end of the year. While Congress and public sentiment is mixed over the specific plan the President is advocating, there is strong, across-the-board support for some form of change from groups including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the pharmaceutical industry.

President Obama’s broad plan specifically calls for these provisions:

• A government-sponsored public option to private insurance
• Eliminating insurance roadblocks for those with pre-existing conditions
• Providing incentives for physicians to work in primary care
• And many others...

What’s the time frame?
As of now, nothing has been decided or voted on. President Obama initially wanted to have Congress vote on a plan in August, but this has been delayed until at least September by our elected officials’ summer recess. There is the possibility that we could know the fate of President Obama’s healthcare plan in the fall, but by many accounts, it will take much longer for any sort of agreement to be worked out on any plan.

We’ll be updating this information in the coming months, and if you have any questions, please email them to mward@partnermd.com, with the subject line, "Healthcare reform." We’ll do our best to answer them in future updates. In the meantime, if you have questions and/or concerns about healthcare reform, we encourage you to contact your local elected representatives.