Health Policy Commons^™

Tri-Committee Draft Proposal For Health Care Reform, Fitzhugh Mullan

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

The Tri-Committee draft legislation takes a significant step towards establishing a health care workforce which will sustain a high-quality, cost-effective, fully accessible health care system. Moves to establish an Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment, re-invest in the National Health Service Corps and Title VII of the Public Health Service Act, redistribute unused Medicare GME positions to primary care programs and establish teaching health centers, and address payment and practice challenges to primary care through the medical home and accountable care organization pilot programs are all positive moves towards a sustainable health care workforce. However, to fully achieve …

Roundtable: Health Care Coverage, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

At the Senate Finance Committee Hearing held on May 5, 2009, Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., addressed three issues related to health care coverage: How can coverage be made more affordable and workable for individuals and small businesses? What are the roles and responsibilities of individuals, employers, and government in achieving health coverage for all Americans? What role should public programs play? This transcript of her official statement begins with general observations concerning Health Coverage in America in order to provide a context to address these more specific questions.

Primary Health Care Access Reform: Community Health Centers And The National Health Service Corps, Fitzhugh Mullan

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

This testimony by Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D., addresses the following issues:

• Improving access to health care in the United States will require modifications in the U.S. health care workforce, the foremost of which will be the construction of a strong primary care base.
• Two-thirds of the U.S. physician workforce practice as specialists and the number of young physicians entering primary care is declining.
• The distribution of health care providers in the U.S. heavily favors urban areas. Metropolitan areas have 2-5 times as many physicians as non-metropolitan areas and economically disadvantaged areas have significant health care access problems.
• Today's physician-to-population ratio is …

Health Care Workforce Issues And Access To Care: Assessing The Present And Preparing For The Future, Fitzhugh Mullan

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

Summary of Testimony Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D. Before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, March 24, 2009

• Improving access to health care in the United States will require modifications in the structure of the U.S. physician workforce, the foremost of which will be the construction of a strong primary care delivery base.
• There are over 800,000 practicing physicians today or 280 physicians per 100,000 people. This represents a greater physician density than Canada (210) and the United Kingdom (250) but a density less than France (340) and Germany (350).
• The distribution of physicians in the U.S. heavily favors urban …

Workforce Issues In Health Care Reform: Assessing The Present And Preparing For The Future, Fitzhugh Mullan

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

Summary of Testimony Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D. Before the Senate Finance Committee March 12, 2009

• Health Care Reform will require modifications in the structure of the U.S. physician workforce the foremost of which is the construction of a strong primary care delivery base.
• There are over 800,000 practicing physicians today or 280 physicians per 100,000 people. This represents a greater physician density than Canada (210) and the United Kingdom (250) but a density less than France (340) and Germany (350).
• The distribution of physicians in the U.S. heavily favors urban areas. Metropolitan areas have 2-5 times as many physicians as non-metropolitan …

Addressing Disparities In Health And Health Care: Issues For Reform, Marsha Lillie-Blanton

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

The testimony focuses on the role of health insurance in reducing disparities in health care and in health status, two distinct but related challenges. Disparities in health care – whether in insurance coverage, access, or quality of care – are one of many factors producing inequalities in health status in the U.S. Eliminating disparities in health among segments of the population (e.g., by race/ethnicity, education, income, gender, geographic location) was one of two overarching goals of Healthy People 2010, the federal government’s blueprint for what it wanted to achieve in health by the end of this decade.

Oversight Hearings On Science And Environmental Regulatory Decisions, David Michaels

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

No abstract provided.

Democratic Ideas To Address The Problem Of Americans Without Health Insurance, Jeanne Lambrew

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Need To Enact Medical Liability Reform, Sara J. Rosenbaum, Taylor Burke

Health Policy and Management Congressional Testimonies

Testimony which will focus on the scope of the legislation's proposed shield against noneconomic damages with respect to the plaintiffs whose claims would be affected, the corporate defendants that would benefit from the shield, and the types of injuries that would be shielded. This measure is so vast in scope that it reaches every conceivable health care claim against every health care corporation or manufacturer of health care products, regardless of whether the violation of law in question bears any relationship to what would reasonably be considered the types of injury commonly associated with the concept of medical liability. Because …