BUSINESSWest Virginia passes bill to create preventive care pilot programThe state medical association supported the bill, which also would raise eligibility for the state's SCHIP.By Mike Norbut, amednews staff. April 10, 2006. West Virginia legislators unanimously approved a bill to create a pilot program tailored after a physician's retainer practice model. The bill, which West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin is expected to sign in the coming weeks, completed the circle for Vic Wood, DO, who specializes in ambulatory medicine and runs Doctors Care, a clinic in Wheeling, W.Va. In 2004, Dr. Wood started offering unlimited appointments and x-ray services to patients in typical retainer medicine style and directed patients to an insurance company for an individual policy covering services such as hospitalization and specialty visits. But the West Virginia Insurance Commission ordered Dr. Wood to stop offering the service, so it could investigate whether he was selling insurance in violation of state law. The bill authorizing the pilot program, however, opens the door again for Dr. Wood's innovation. The program created by the bill in many ways follows the structure of Dr. Wood's model. It includes a "preventive care plan" component, where subscribing patients can receive primary care appointments, x-rays and lab tests for one monthly fee. It also calls for an "individual limited benefits plan" component, where families could pay as little as $100 per month for portable insurance that also covers mostly primary care services. The bill includes a provision to raise eligibility for the state's SCHIP, or children's health insurance program, from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level, which would grant insurance coverage for most children in the state. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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