Nov. 8, 2012 -
PRLog -- Silver Spring, MD - The National Medical Association (NMA) would like to congratulate President Barack Obama on being re-elected for his second term. "President Obama's win was truly an inspirational and momentous occasion in every way, assuring that the number of uninsured Americans will continue to decrease as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) being upheld.” commented Dr. Rahn K. Bailey, NMA President. NMA, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the art and science of medicine for people of African decent through education, advocacy, and health policy to promote health and wellness, eliminate health disparities, and sustain physician viability. “The NMA has been a staunch supporter from the start of the Obama administration’
s efforts to overhaul the American healthcare system. Obama’s win assures the nation that healthcare reform will continue to be at the forefront. However, given the magnitude of the challenges facing the nation, our leaders, unfortunately, will have little time to catch their breath. As early as next week, they must begin to address pressing issues, not the least of which would be how to fund the nation’s health care delivery systems in the near term, and the complete implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the medium to long term.” continued Bailey. Sequestration is a clear and present danger to public health and preventive care funding. The looming pay cuts to physicians who see Medicare patients could be as deep as 30% if the Congress does not act by January 1st 2013. The refusal of some states to proceed with the Medicaid expansion provided under the ACA would imperil the health of millions of African American, Latino, and other vulnerable patients who are the most likely to benefit from said expansion. Individually, these are all cause for grave concern. In the aggregate, they would exacerbate the health care disparities we have all worked so hard to reduce and eliminate. Worse, they could precipitate premature death or disability in too many people, and could escalate the very fiscal challenges we must confront on our way back to economic prosperity. It need not be this way. The reforms provided for in the ACA have begun to take hold, and this would be exactly the wrong time to stall the momentum. “We stand ready to work with the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration on all of these issues that affect the patients we serve, and we look forward to a productive second term for the President, and an equally productive 113th Congress.”