Coalition of Physician and Patient Advocates Support AMAC’s HEALTH Act

Free2Care, a coalition of 34 physician and patient organizations encompassing 70,000 doctors and 8 million members, views the HEALTH Act as strengthening the safety net for a vulnerable segment of society.

May 1, 2023

The Honorable Daniel Webster
11th Congressional District of Florida
2184 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Webster:

Free2Care is a coalition of 34 physician and patient organizations representing over 70,000 physicians with over 8 million members and thought leaders working together to strengthen the physician/patient relationship. We believe that healthcare can be transformed through price transparency, access, and choice and we write to you to offer our organization’s support for HR 2986, the Helping Everyone Access Long Term Healthcare (HEALTH) Act.

We recognize that HR 2986 would expand access to quality health care for low-income individuals and families by empowering physicians to practice charity care locally in their own offices. By allowing doctors to take a simple tax deduction for their professional services in exchange for treating low-income patients at no charge, the Helping Everyone Access Long Term Healthcare (HEALTH) Act has the potential of saving the Medicaid and CHIP programs billions of dollars – far exceeding the cost of the deduction to tax revenues.

The long-term, personal relationships this at-risk demographic would experience by routinely seeing a primary care physician for chronic conditions would break the cycle of expensive care Medicaid patients traditionally seek in the emergency department for non-emergent cases and lead to better healthcare outcomes.

The Helping Everyone Access Long Term Healthcare (HEALTH) Act is not a mandate as it simply gives physicians the option to voluntarily treat Medicaid and CHIP-eligible patients at no charge or file for the reimbursement these programs offer if they prefer. It also will not interfere with any benefit that these programs offer beneficiaries.

We view HR 2986 as strengthening the safety net for a vulnerable segment of society and are pleased to offer Free2Care’s full support for the Helping Everyone Access Long Term Healthcare (HEALTH) Act.

Sincerely,
Free2Care
www.free2care.org