Town Hall Meeting Addresses Academy Advocacy Efforts

Issues important to FPs were tossed about at a Town Hall meeting on public and private sector advocacy Sept. 29 at the AAFP's Scientific Assembly in Washington, D.C.

The meeting, which was open to all Assembly attendees, was presided over by AAFP President Rick Kellerman, M.D.; Board Chair Larry Fields, M.D.; Past President Mary Frank, M.D.; and EVP Douglas Henley, M.D.

The AAFP leaders reviewed areas in both the public and private sector where the Academy has spent significant effort recently including

On the private sector advocacy side, Frank told the audience that the Academy has always worked with insurance companies on members' behalf, but that the creation of the Academy's payment strike force in 2005 has reaped rewards.

"As a result of the payment strike force, we've become much more aggressive in seeking out the industry leaders to come and meet with us," said Frank. "In negotiations, the first step is to get them to meet on your turf. UnitedHealthcare, CIGNA, and Aetna all came to AAFP headquarters in Leawood, Kan., for discussions. I think there's a message just in that," she said.

From the audience, came a concern about insurance company roadblocks. Tim Tobolic, M.D., from Byron Center, Mich., complained about "gimmicks established by the insurance industry over the years" that result in a three to six month delay in claims processing.

Limited drug formularies offered by insurance companies and the lowering of prices of generic drugs by some national chain stores brought Mark Earhart, M.D., of Watkinsville, Ga., to the microphone. Physicians can't access all the pharmaceutical tools they need, he said, likening the situation to that of an artist "who is hamstrung and can only use four or five colors out of the palette." And, while the use of generics is very appropriate in some situations, Earhart expressed concern that patients are choosing "not what's best, but what is cheap."

Alan Blum, M.D., asked AAFP leaders to use the Academy's clout to address tobacco-related issues. "The United States is the only country in the world where cigarettes are sold in the pharmacy," said Blum, director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He said kids are being duped by tobacco company advertising into thinking tobacco companies help prevent smoking, even as those companies amass record profits from the sale of cigarettes. "We must use the strength of the Academy to keep them (tobacco companies) from getting away with murder," Blum said.