Maureen Whelihan, M.D., was installed as the 90th President of the Palm Beach County Medical Society, in November 2008. Dr Whelihan is a board certified obstetrician /gynecologist. A member of the Palm Beach County Medical Society since 1998, she has served in numerous leadership positions. She is currently the vice president of the Florida Obstetrics and Gynecology Society, her state specialty society.
I feel privileged to be given the opportunity to serve the physicians of Palm Beach County as the 90th president. I am honored to serve with a board of directors of energetic, dedicated physician leaders who are constantly working to help doctors take better care of their patients. The challenges we face in the coming year are significant.
We will continue the battle against Medicare cuts. 0ur “win” was really just a stay and the same reductions will be attempted in another few months. We must channel our energies into drafting a message that will be clear and concise for our members of Congress.
With the new Democratic president-elect and Democratic Congress, we will be faced with the challenge of assessing the health care reforms being suggested. President-Elect Obamas ideas include providing incentives and support to help physicians and others improve quality of care while reducing costs. This will be done by adopting information technology systems to avoid duplication of services, unnecessary testing, and track appropriate drug utilization; and focusing on prevention and chronic disease management to help lower costs and improve health outcomes. He wants to implement a medical home type model to integrate care of chronic conditions.
He will require full transparency to the public regarding quality and costs. He will require hospitals and providers to collect and publicly report measures of health care costs and quality including preventable medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired infections and disparities in care and cost. Health plans must disclose how much of the patients premium goes toward healthcare costs vs. administrative costs.
He wants insurers to pay not based on volume but rather quality and effectiveness. He wants to align reimbursement with the provision of high quality care. Providers who see patients on the new public plan
the National Health Insurance Exchange, Medicare and Federal Employee Health Plan will be rewarded for achieving performance thresholds.
The new plan will reform Medical Malpractice while preserving patient rights. He wants to strengthen anti-trust laws to prevent insurers from overcharging premiums for medical malpractice insurance
His plan is to increase competition in the insurance market and offering federal re-insurance to employers for catastrophic illnesses so that health care remains affordable for businesses and their employees.
He believes that Medicare Advantage costs the government 12 percent more than traditional Medicare and wants to eliminate the excessive subsidies to this plan. He wants consumers to be able to import prescription drugs if they are safe and prices are low. He will promote the use of generic drugs and repeal the ban on direct negotiation with drug companies to lower drug costs. He believes this will translate into a $30 BILLION dollar savings.
He believes that the top 5 percent of people with the greatest health care expenses in the US account for 49 percent of the overall health care dollar. His plan is to reimburse the employer for a portion of the catastrophic costs they incur above a threshold if they guarantee the savings are used to reduce the cost of workers premiums.
Tax credits will be available to all individuals who “need it” for their premiums. Small businesses will receive a tax credit of “up to 50 percent of premiums paid” on behalf of their employees.
Many of you have lived through some of these ideas in the past, and for others of us this is a new, and sometimes concerning, frontier. Regardless of what lies ahead, the Palm Beach County Medical Society is strong and eager for battle. You have heard before, “together we are stronger” and, indeed, there is strength in membership. We are currently 1,307 members strong.
I would like to ask all physicians to join and to be providers for a very successful Project Access program, which has provided over $3 million in donated care to our uninsured residents, I am proud to say that each of the physicians in my office provides care for these patients.
I am looking forward to the challenges ahead and ask for the support of all physicians, hospitals, and healthcare providers to move forward our mission to Help Doctors Help Patients.
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