News
Protect the Doctor-Patient Relationship: Support the Health Insurer Code of Conduct
10/1/2009
No matter where you fall in the current debate about health care, everyone should agree that a strong doctor-patient relationship is the key to effective, personalized health care. A simple and important step to protect that relationship was taken by the AOA House of Delegates in July, when it passed a resolution to work collaboratively with the health care community in development of the basic tenets of a Health Insurance Code of Conduct, which supports transparency, corporate integrity, and patient safety and welfare. Now there is something everyone can do to make the code a reality. Physicians, patients and others who care about increasing the transparency and effectiveness of care can visit www.insurepatientaccess.org and add their name to the online petition and read the code.
A Health Insurer Code of Conduct is a first step in addressing a growing problem. Private and government health insurance increasingly creates obstacles to care by putting limits on what medicines are covered. They create expensive and bureaucratic pre-authorization procedures that limit access to effective medical procedures, diagnostics and approved therapies.
The Health Insurer Code of Conduct was first proposed by the New York Chapter of the AMA, and seeks to achieve three important goals:
First, it helps patients and physicians know which health insurance plans give doctors the power to make the final decisions about treating their patients. Although the AMA resolution would not have the force of law, insurance providers could voluntarily agree to follow its guidelines, giving insurers the opportunity to say clearly that they put patients first.
Second, monitoring compliance with the code would provide patients and physicians with information useful to understand where we can save money and what efforts are counterproductive. Choosing a health plan is difficult and there is little good data to help people find the best plan for them. This effort could add to consumer information, helping ensure they choose a plan that fits their pocketbook and their needs.
Finally, it would give doctors and patients recourse where insurance companies did not live up to the promises of the code. Sometimes restrictions on care are bureaucratic rather than formal, like requiring patients to fail on several medicines before receiving the treatment their doctor recommends. In some cases patients must fail on medicines not approved by the FDA before moving to more effective treatments. The code would highlight these types of limits on treatment.