Ohio-ACC members participated in the Ohio-ACC Legislative Day on May 5, 2009. We discussed the following:

ISSUE #1: STEMI Systems of Care
This year, an estimated 1.4 million people will suffer a heart attack. Approximately 400,000 of those victims will experience STEMI (ST segment elevation myocardial infarction), whereby there is a complete blockage in a coronary artery that stops blood flow to a portion of the heart. Unless the blockage in the artery is opened quickly to restore blood flow, the patient faces greater risk of death and debilitation. A new, coordinated statewide system is being formed to focus on the identification, triage, emergency transport and acute treatment of individuals with heart attacks. The development of this system begins with a focus on STEMI patients. The system will take advantage of the unique expertise of specialty societies like the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA), and will include active participation of hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS) systems in Ohio. The ACC understands that the state’s current budgetary situation prevents state sponsorship of a program in 2009, but this should be priority issue in the coming years.

ISSUE #2: Tobacco
Smoking is a leading cause of heart and vascular disease, major lung diseases, and other common forms of cancer. Nearly one-fifth of deaths from cardiovascular disease are attributable to smoking. These deaths are preventable. Passive or involuntary smoking and smokeless tobacco also share many of these adverse health consequences. In 2006, legislation to improve the health of Ohio citizens by making restaurants and workplaces smoke-free passed by an overwhelming margin. The ACC and other healthcare groups strongly supported this decision, and staunchly oppose any efforts to weaken the smoke-free law. We ask Ohio lawmakers for their support in keeping this law strong, by maintaining smoke- free public places and workplaces. We oppose SB 120.

ISSUE #3: Physician Designation Legislation
Legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate (H.B. 122 and S.B. 98), which seeks to address the issue of physician ratings by insurance companies in Ohio. This legislation would prevent health insurance companies from ranking physicians based solely on specific criteria to persuade a consumer to choose one physician over another. The bills would establish standards for physician designations, including the use of risk-adjusted data, base grades, and ratings based at least in part on nationally recognized quality of care measures. The legislation also allows physicians the right to review and appeal their ratings prior to the ratings released to the public. The issue of physician ranking has been hotly debated for several years. Insurers have supported obtaining data in order to tier and quantify cost effective care, while consumers have wanted data to compare doctors based on quality and cost. The Ohio Chapter of the ACC (OH-ACC) believes that health plans that are doing “profiling” or “tiered networks” should be subject to certain standards (like transparency, accuracy and due process). H.B. 122 and S.B. 98 do not address these issues sufficiently. OH-ACC also believes there may be more efficient and effective ways to pursue this issue outside of the state legislative process.