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Health Care Reform Position Statement
Summary
The Arthritis Foundation proposes the following principles be included in any health care reform legislation:
1. Universal Access to Efficient, Health Care for People with Arthritis
- Guarantee comprehensive, essential health care benefits for all.
- Eliminate pre-existing condition exclusions.
- Ensure that coverage is continuous and portable.
- Remove the 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage.
- Ensure the physician and allied professional workforce is adequate to reach people with arthritis in underserved communities.
2. Affordable, Sustainable, Comprehensive Care for All
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- Ensure insurance premiums are reasonable and affordable to patients with chronic diseases.
- Set reasonable co-payments for medications, specifically biologics for rheumatoid and juvenile arthritis patients.
- Prohibit sale of insurance plans that provide no prescription drug coverage.
3. Preventive, Quality Care for All
- Increase and foster early and sustained access to coordinated, preventive care for patients with arthritis.
- Increase early access to evidence-based interventions.
4. Health Information Technology to Increase Efficiency, Improve Health Outcomes and Facilitate Coordination of Care
- Incentivize the use of information technologies to conduct epidemiological studies, monitor the long-term effects of therapies and interventions, and coordinate care amongst multiple providers
5. Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) to Improve Outcomes and Reduce Costs
- Establish a framework for evidence-based comparative effectiveness data to provide clinical decision support to providers and people with arthritis
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June 2009
