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Physicians, lawmakers push for Medicare regulatory relief

The AMA and other doctor groups back a bill that, among other things, would reform the process for appealing denied claims.

By Jane Cys, amednews staff. March 12, 2001.

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Washington -- The American Medical Association and specialty physician groups plan in early March to kick off a high-priority congressional effort focused on alleviating Medicare's regulatory burden on physicians.

The renewed push from doctors and other health care practitioners comes at a time when key congressional committees, lawmakers and Bush administration officials are beginning to take a close look at the Health Care Financing Administration and its management of Medicare.

"It serves no one to have a Medicare system that is so burdensome that physicians who want to care for our nation's seniors are being driven away," said Thomas R. Reardon, MD, the AMA immediate past president.

"The AMA will work tirelessly this year to make changes in the system that allow physicians to get back to their primary focus, and that is treating patients."

The Medicare Education and Regulatory Fairness Act of 2001, which incorporates many of the regulatory reforms sought by the AMA and other physician groups, is expected to be introduced in the House and Senate early this month. Reps. Pat Toomey (R, Pa.) and Shelley Berkley (D, Nev.) are key House sponsors, and Sen. Frank Murkowski (R, Alaska) is a lead Senate sponsor.

Signs are promising that doctors' quest for regulatory relief may be rolled into lawmakers' ongoing efforts to examine whether HCFA needs to be overhauled so it can operate more efficiently for Medicare beneficiaries.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, for example, has begun a series of hearings to review HCFA's major programs, policies and operations. Part of that review will focus on identifying and eliminating antiquated regulations, senior committee members said in a recent letter to Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. [...]