House Health Reform Bill Supports WAHA Health Reform Policies
November 6, 2009

The Whatcom Alliance for Healthcare Access announces its assessment of the  Affordable Health Care for America Act - HR 3962.  WAHA’s comparison of the bill to health reform principles established earlier this year shows that the act addresses the issues  most important to this community based organization which is made up of a broad based alliance of health care providers, consumers, social service agencies, faith communities, public officials and business. 

“The bill is lengthy but we are impressed with the depth and breadth of the initiatives being proposed in this comprehensive legislation,” said Kerri Lenderman, WAHA Executive Director.  “It addresses the critical issues we have identified locally as required to insure affordable access to care and coverage for our community,” she said.

“We are particularly impressed with the way the short falls in the Medicare payment system that have disadvantaged Washington state providers and consumers for decades is finally being addressed in this bill,”  said David Lynch, M.D. who is President of the Whatcom County Medical Society and a WAHA board member.   “This unresolved issue has affected our ability to recruit the needed healthcare providers to serve the growing number of Medicare patients in our community.  We are grateful to our federal elected officials particularly Congressman Rick Larsen for insuring this was included in the reform legislation,” Lynch said.

WAHA officials also note that the reform act lays the groundwork for providing incentives to reduce waste and improve health care outcomes while including support of community based efforts already underway in Washington State and Whatcom County such as a focus on wellness and prevention, expanding support for primary care training, creating opportunities for state and community level pilot projects and innovations and recognition of the importance of consumer engagement in reducing costs and improving outcomes. 

For a comparison of the bill to WAHA health reform principles and links to the bill and bill summaries please visit www.whatcomalliance.org/policy.

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