FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 23, 2002
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kelley Elwood, 312-580-6497
cell 312-608-3620
Illinois Physicians Take Stand on Public Health Issues
Chicago – The Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) House of Delegates met April 19-21, 2002 in Oak Brook, IL to set the organization's policy agenda for the upcoming year, taking a stand on issues ranging from access to health care and bioterrorism, to insurers' questionable business practices. Tort reform continues to be a top concern of Illinois physicians. The ISMS House of Delegates is comprised of some 300 physicians who debate and vote on current issues affecting Illinois patients and physicians.
ISMS delegates debated several possibilities in addressing access to health care for the uninsured. Much discussion focused on proposed cuts to the Medicaid and Medicare programs. Delegates strengthened their resolve to pursue the development of appropriate payment methodologies for all aspects of needed medical treatment, including preventive services and mammograms, in order to curtail predicted access problems that may occur with funding cuts.
Citing President Bush's call for an expanded Freedom Corps, physicians voted to support the concept of recruiting Illinois physicians to work overseas and in underserved areas. Physicians also agreed to continue to look at alternative funding sources to help alleviate the increased burden of small businesses in providing health insurance to their employees, and to take their concerns about the discontinuation of the J-1 Exchange Visitor visa waiver program to appropriate state and federal agencies. The J-1 visa waiver program allows international medical graduates who have completed their postgraduate training in the U.S., remain here to practice if they do so in underserved areas.
Physicians want to become more actively involved in crafting the state's bioterrorism preparedness programs, voting to work with federal and local agencies, other medical societies and hospitals to coordinate strategies for protecting our citizens. Delegates also voted to condemn members of the scientific community who carelessly or deliberately disseminate biological materials, and to encourage institutions that engage in research activities to implement safeguards for protection of biological materials. Additionally, physicians concurred that smallpox vaccines should be made available at the appropriate time, with high priority to those with possible exposure to the disease.
Illinois physicians continue to grapple with health insurers' questionable business practices. Delegates addressed some health plans' lists of participating physicians that mislead patients by including physicians who are not contracted with the plan, penalizing patients who follow these published rosters. They also strongly reaffirmed support for the ISMS-backed Fairness in Health Care Services Contracting Act, voting to pursue remedies to the problem of "Silent PPOs," where physicians are "rented" to other networks without their knowledge, and forced to abide by contract provisions they did not sign.
The need for tort reform on a national level was cited as a chief concern among ISMS physicians, specifically the harm that an out-of-balance court system inflicts on the medical malpractice insurance market. ISMS will work aggressively to educate lawmakers and their constituents on the excessive costs and consequences of the current litigation climate, and the urgent need for comprehensive medical malpractice reform.
Emphasizing that portable defibrillators save lives, ISMS will assist in developing guidelines for their use. Delegates stressed the need to have units available only where personnel have been trained to use them. A statewide ban on the burning of yard waste was also supported by the delegation.
The Society held elections and inaugurated a new president, John F. Schneider, M.D., Ph.D., an internist from Flossmoor, IL. Ronald L. Ruecker, M.D., an internist from Decatur, IL, was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The Illinois State Medical Society represents over 14,000 physicians statewide practicing in all specialties.