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Senate Fails to Pass Graham/Chafee Amendment
The American College of Emergency Physicians
(ACEP), a medical specialty organization of more than
20,000 emergency physicians, today said the Senate
managed care legislation falls short of fully protecting
emergency patients in managed care plans, because it
does not contain provisions for appropriate coordination
of post-stabilization care or limit a patient's
responsibility for sharing the costs of emergency care.
Dr. John Moorhead, president of ACEP, made the
following statement following yesterday's defeat of the
Graham/Chafee amendment, which would have addressed
these concerns:
"Emergency physicians are
disappointed that the Graham/Chafee amendment did not
pass and that the Senate managed care legislation does
not contain provisions to ensure appropriate
post-stabilization care. While we support provisions of
the bill to establish a national 'prudent layperson'
standard, the provisions are not complete, and the
legislation only covers 48 million insured consumers —
about one-third the number who need protection — and
does not limit a patient's co-payments for emergency
care, which may discourage people from going to the
emergency department.
"Care of a patient after
his or her medical condition has been stabilized often
must be done in a timely manner to ensure that a medical
condition or injury does not deteriorate or develop
further medical complications. Emergency physicians seek
to work closely with health plans and other hospital
staff to coordinate follow-up care, but often are
frustrated because they are not able to reach health
plans in a timely manner to discuss a patient's care.
"ACEP continues to call on Congress to adopt the same
national 'prudent layperson' standard for all Americans,
as they did for Medicare and Medicaid patients in the
Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and as the President did for
all Federal employees. This standard is also contained
in S.517, the 'Access to Emergency Services Act of 1999'
and other bills pending in Congress."
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The American
College of Emergency Physicians is a medical specialty
society representing nearly 20,000 physicians who
specialize in emergency medicine. ACEP is dedicated to
improving emergency care through continuing education,
research, and public education. Headquartered in Dallas,
Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state as
well as Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and
Government Services.
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