The HEALTH Act would allow doctors and other healthcare professionals to provide pro-bono healthcare services to low-income individuals and receive a simple charitable tax deduction in lieu of payment.
Rep. DesJarlais explained that soon after he established his medical practice in Tennessee in 1993 he “began to see an over utilization of emergency rooms … it’s been a problem that has grown over the years and that got worse under Obamacare.”
He noted that under the current healthcare system, it has become harder and harder for doctors to provide health care to low-income Americans due to increased government rules and regulations. The HEALTH Act is designed to encourage more professionals to engage in pro-bono services by giving them a reduction in taxes for providing free care for those who need it. Noting that some 80% of ER visits are not emergencies, he pointed out that it would help relieve overcrowded conditions in hospital Emergency Rooms.
The HEALTH Act “would also help establish better relationships with the patients,” Rep. DesJarlais said. “They would have an actual doctor rather than whoever happens to be working in the ER.”
Rep. DesJarlais explained that while those who supported Obamacare may have intended to increase access to healthcare, in reality the current system often fails to provide care to hardworking Americans:
“They always talk about the middle class and protecting the middle class, but if you’re not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid and you can’t afford private insurance, [you’re] stuck. So if you don’t work for a company that provides health insurance, you kind of fall into a loophole. So Obamacare inadvertently left out probably some of the hardest working Americans. And so it changed the way people had to look at their employment. It ended up hurting a lot of people.” Rep. DesJarlais said.
The HEALTH Act was re-introduced in Congress last month by Representatives Daniel Webster (R-FL) and Dr. Scott DesJarlais. To learn more about the HEALTH Act, click here.
Unfortunately, it is not the money to the physician that is the problem that sends you to the ER. It is too many needing appointments today so if you have something needing to be seen today or at least tomorrow you can’t get in, thus urgent care or ER depending on issues. Used to be when I worked in medical office we had 3 open appointment times for call ins. Now you cannot do that due to too many needing appointments in general and working for a company instead of the physicians private practice, you MUST see patients every 15 minutes and the rest of the time is made up of notes time. Thus it is my experience. And others I know of, that you get told to go to the urgent care or ER when you call your drs office. So it is not about any pro Bono thing.
I got confused when I read the pro-bono wording in this article. As I understand it and not just from the article, there are a lot of people who use the ER, for services that you would typically go to a doctor for but can’t because of the necessity of paying the fees upfront because of lack of insurance coverage because you can’t afford the premiums. As a side note, whoever determined that 10% of your annual income is a fair premium cost versus the actual number of times you visit the doctor per year has a weird sense of math and a poor conception of real average income in high-cost premium areas. For this theoretical concept of Law to work, it has to be applied correctly in high-priced premium areas in an equal value to the area. This would work in lower population density areas where the cost of living is not high and the number of individuals who qualify in income to benefit is low. But I really cannot see it happening in my geographic area (Tr-State) where those of us who would benefit from this (just above the poverty line income) as described would not be able to partake because all doctor offices that may participate would become walk-in ER clinics and destroy the concept of appointment based visits. Why bother making an appointment if you are going to have to wait to be seen? As for the processing of the claims by the doctors’ offices, that is an insurance wording issue, not a patient care issue. Clear up that problem and eliminating the waiting in the office waiting room while lowering the cost needs to be clarified in detail.
Why not HC bureaucracy OK
I agree that this is a good idea. BUT, a doctor told me that the Medicaid patients were the ones who filed lawsuits. So there needs to be some consideration for doctors in this bill. If they are kind enough to provide health care services, then they should not be in jeopardy of being sued unless there is a serious evidence based reason. Frivolous lawsuits should be addressed in this bill.
Also, the drug store minute clinics were good if you could not get same day appointments with your primary. They were eliminated I suspect because of COVID. This should be reestablished.
The problem with doctors is that I can’t trust them! All my current health problems are BECAUSE I LISTENED TO THEM. After visiting an Emergency Room about 8 years ago for a kidney stone issue, I was told that I also had an enlarged prostate. He then proceeded to inform me that I needn’t be concerned and that I could live with it and he prescribed a prescription to slow the growth but HE NEVER TOLD ME THAT I WOULD EVENTUALLY NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! So one day last July I started to get disorientated and drove 70 miles into the next county. I misjudged a turn and drove over the curb and got a flat tire. Fortunately for me a police car came by and stopped as I must of appeared disorientated. They questioned me whether I had used drugs or alcohol which I denied. They put me into the back seat and that’s the last I remember before waking up in a hospital bed. I was told that I had gotten kidney failure and was lucky that I didn’t die. The only reason that I didn’t was because at 75 years old they were shocked that I didn’t have ANY clogged arteries thanks to my owning and using my Bemer PEMF system. After 23 days and losing 32 lbs, I realized that they didn’t care about me. Why? Because they NEVER gave me a bath or shower, NEVER cut my finger or toe nails, NEVER shaved me and basically were just seeing me as a $$ sign! I got myself out of there with help of my best friend and returned home. I still have a catheter in me and am now again replacing my Urologist who I feel also sees me as a $$ sign! This guy sent me to get an mri and if I hadn’t thoroughly read the instructions which warned against having the treatment if I had any kidney issues because it could kill me. Catheters NEED to be changed EVERY month and he made me wait 45 days and didn’t even have a new catheter plug and I was forced to use the same plug for 105 days! Again, inept in my opinion! He also thinks that I should have surgery to remove the enlarged prostate instead of shrinking it or using the Urolift system which I HAD to mention as he never brought it up as another option. I am so FRUSTRATED dealing with these doctors who I feel view me as a $$ sign!
At my local Urgent Care you need an appointmen they are so busy. Thus it is not urgent care anymore.
legislation before prosecution and conviction is window dressing; it’s useless and ignored.