FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018
Statement attributable to:
John Cullen, MD
President
American Academy of Family Physicians
“Friday’s ruling in the Texas v. Azar lawsuit will potentially have a profoundly negative impact on our patients. The American Academy of Family Physicians strongly disagrees with legal decisions and legislation that limit our patients’ access to health care. If this decision stands, millions of patients are at serious risk of losing the protection of affordable, meaningful health insurance.
“Meaningful, affordable health insurance is paramount for all Americans, particularly the more than 52 million people who have pre-existing conditions such as cancer, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other life-threatening or serious chronic diseases.
“Family physicians and primary medical care are the foundation of our health care system. Every day, family physicians work to prevent complications of our patients’ pre-existing or chronic illnesses. That’s why we support provisions in the current law that require insurance plans to cover pre-existing conditions. It’s also why we support the current law’s provisions that establish 10 essential benefits—such as lab tests, procedures and prescriptions—which all patients need to prevent health problems and to monitor or treat pre-existing health conditions.
“We will be steadfast in our support of these protections as we work with Congress to develop legislation that ensures our patients have insurance coverage for both pre-existing conditions and the medical care necessary to prevent relapse and complications.”
Editor's Note: To arrange an interview with Dr. Cullen, contact Leslie Champlin, (800) 274-2237, Ext. 6252, or lchampli@aafp.org.
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About American Academy of Family Physicians
Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 130,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the largest medical society devoted solely to primary care. Family physicians conduct approximately one in five office visits — that’s 192 million visits annually or 48 percent more than the next most visited medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care. To learn more about the specialty of family medicine and the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care, visit www.aafp.org. For information about health care, health conditions and wellness, please visit the AAFP’s consumer website, www.familydoctor.org.