Patient Advocates From All 50 States Gather in Nation's Capital to Meet with Lawmakers to Urge Maintenance of Patient Protection Provisions in Healthcare Reform

PAF Hosts Representatives in Effort to Promote Healthcare Access for All

WASHINGTON, June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Patients and representatives from the Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) – a national non-profit organization that seeks to safeguard patients through effective mediation assuring access to care, maintenance of employment and preservation of their financial stability relative to their diagnosis of life threatening or debilitating diseases – are in Washington, D.C. this week for the organization's 12th Annual Patient Congress. The gathering is aimed at addressing the access to care needs of patients suffering from life threatening or debilitating diseases. Last year alone, PAF received in excess of 4 million contacts from patients, family members and care professionals requesting access to care information and assistance.  Of those contacts, PAF's professional patient services staff successfully resolved 82,963 cases, an increase from 55,834 in 2009, for patients that required direct, sustained mediation and arbitration services.

PAF's two-day Patient Congress allows patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals and non-profit patient advocacy representatives to participate in the legislative process by meeting with their elected officials in Washington and advocating for the maintenance of the patient protection provisions in the Affordable Care Act. Advocates will also encourage finding a permanent fix to the Medicare physician reimbursement schedule as without one, the impending change in physician reimbursement will threaten patient access.  Participants will attend educational workshops and meet with Members of Congress to help advance the national dialogue and drive solutions on maintaining patient access to care.

"It is a sad fact that nearly two-thirds of the 82,963 patients contacting PAF for information and assistance in 2010 reported debt crisis issues due to direct medical expenses and cost-of-living expenses, even though 76 percent of those patients had some type of private or public insurance.  In 2010, PAF also saw a 38 percent increase in requests for assistance from Medicare beneficiaries. Twenty-five percent of the patients served by PAF in 2010 were Medicare beneficiaries, with 59 percent qualifying on the basis of age and 41 percent on the basis of a disability. Because PAF serves such a large number of Medicare patients, cuts to physician reimbursement are especially troubling since decreased reimbursement to physicians provides them with less incentive to treat Medicare beneficiaries and will ultimately lead to decreased access to necessary care for patients," said Nancy Davenport-Ennis, CEO of PAF.  "We are excited to be in Washington meeting with legislators and encouraging all patients to find their voice. We are here this week to voice that the passage of healthcare reform legislation is just the beginning of the process of bringing truly comprehensive healthcare reform to the American people and that as patient advocates, we look forward to working with them on implementing these important reforms."

This year, 10 members of the U.S. Senate and 33 members of the U.S. House of Representatives will serve as Honorary Chairpersons of the 12th Annual Patient Congress. PAF is appreciative of their valuable support and thankful for their work on behalf of America's vulnerable and frail patient population.

CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen and Representative Sue Myrick (R-NC-9th) will both speak at The Patient Congress dinner symposium.

While meeting with legislators this year, Patient Congress participants will be asking their elected officials to maintain the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that protect patients' access to affordable care, including the elimination of pre-existing conditions as barrier to coverage, the elimination of annual and lifetime caps on insurance coverage and capping the out-of-pocket expenses patients have to pay to receive care.  Participants will also be asking their elected officials to support a permanent fix to the Medicare physician fee schedule so that patient access to care is not impeded, particularly in our nation's rural and underserved communities.

PAF was founded on the principle that healthcare is a basic human need and shared social responsibility, and is grateful that the healthcare reform legislation passed this year addressed the barrier that annual and lifetime limits present for patients, and that it imposed a cap on out-of-pocket expenses for all patients.  These important steps will reduce the number of Americans faced with medical debt and bankruptcy, and together with the enhanced affordability provisions added in the reconciliation part of this package, makes great progress toward providing Americans with truly affordable access to health insurance coverage.

PAF services are available to all patients, patient families and medical professionals and offer a variety of patient assistance programs including Co-Pay Relief and MedCareLine, as well as insurance claims intervention, job retention services and debt crisis management. For more information about the 12th Annual Patient Congress, please visit http://pc.patientadvocate.org/ or call toll free (800) 532-5274. 

Patient Advocate Foundation is a national non-profit organization that seeks to safeguard patients through effective mediation assuring access to care, maintenance of employment and preservation of their financial stability.

SOURCE Patient Advocate Foundation