Fwd: You Can Help Get a Physician into Congress

[DonnaBav...@aol.com]

 

Please support Dr. Eck's candidacy if you think we need more doctors in Congress!  (And we do!)

DBR

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From: eck...@gmail.com
To: eck...@gmail.com
Sent: 8/28/2014 6:43:31 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: You Can Help Get a Physician into Congress

 

Dear Fellow Physician,

As you know, I am running for the US Congress in NJ CD-12. The election is on November 4th and this is an open seat. The only thing standing between victory and me is the money to get the word out.  We need a practicing physician who understand the system to go to Washington to help fix it.

I wanted to let you know that there will be another Doctors for Eck fundraiser for me at the Shackamaxon Country Club in Scotch Plains, NJ from 6:30-8:30 on September 9th and I would be honored to see you there. Physicians have stepped up as hosts for this event, promising to donate or raise $1000. Will you join them?

 

Please go to eckforcongress.com and make as generous a donation as you can via a secure portal. The limit is $2600 per person. 

Most people believe our nation is heading in the wrong direction and that their children will have a harder time than they did. Our economy has not rebounded in a way that has created well-paying new jobs. 31% of college graduates are finding themselves back home, unable to get on their feet with college debt, the lack of jobs and the high cost of living. Our national debt has increased, and entitlement spending is skyrocketing. Our foreign affairs policies are in disarray.

 

Most of you will agree that our health care system is not better than it was 20 years ago. We may have better medicines and better technology, but the bureaucracy in the insurance and government health care systems have extracted an ever increasing percentage of the growing health care pie, and those who provide the care are struggling.

 

Many physicians are giving up their autonomy and signing contracts with big entities that promise a salary, benefits and fewer headaches. But when the money dries up, their salaries will be the first to be cut. Trusting executives and government bureaucrats to act in the best interest of patients and physicians is wishful thinking at best.

This is not to disparage the extraordinary physicians who work and teach in the medical schools, for without them there would be no future doctors. But without a vigorous private sector caring for the majority of patients in the outlying cities and towns, the people will not get the high quality care they have come to expect in the United States.

 

MOC is killing us with the high fees, time away from our patients and families and tests that have little to do with the niche we have carved into our own practices. We need to fight back as there is no evidence that physicians who take part in MOC are more competent than those who don't. As long as we keep up with meaningful CME, and continue to learn the advancements in our specialties, we can remain the highly skilled, learned physicians that our patients need.

 

There is one silver lining on this dark cloud. The Affordable Care Act is forcing patients into high deductible plans meaning that physicians who can provide good service at reasonable direct pay prices will emerge the winners. 

92% of patients do not spend more than $5,000 in a given year on health care. So that means 92% of our patients should be turning to their doctors to help stay below that deductible and away from their insurance companies. Since "re-pricing" can actually bring the fee above the free market, the best move for a savvy patient is to rely on one's personal physician to help navigate the system. Some physicians are instituting a membership plan, where patients pay $100/month to be available 24/7 by phone, e-mail or a scheduled visit. These are viable solutions.

 

This is not just about primary care, either. Check out surgerycenterok.com and see what the free market can do. A total hip or a total knee can be done for under $20,000 including the facility fee. Check your hospital and see what it costs in New Jersey. This type of center would not be legal in NJ because of all the regulations and protecting of the status quo built into our certificate of need laws.  Someone needs to stand up to those legislators and regulators who would enrich their cronies and themselves at the expense of the physicians and the people.

 

I submit that NJ S94, The Volunteer Medical Professional Health Care Act, a law that I drafted, may prove to be the catalyst for the real change our nation needs. If physicians take back the care of the poor providing four hours a week of free care in non-government free clinics, and the State in turn gives us medical malpractice coverage in our PRIVATE practices, physicians of all specialties will begin to regain their autonomy and independence. THIS is the kind of change we need. Why spend $13 billion on a Medicaid system that barely compensates the physicians?

This is why I joined the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons many years ago and became their President in 2012. We have watched our health care system go in the wrong direction. The AAPS Annual meeting will take place in Charleston, SC from September 4-6 with the highest registration ever. Our message is getting out.  The private patient-physician relationship is the bedrock of the Oath of Hippocrates, and must be restored. This is possible with the right leadership.

 

That is also why I am running for Congress in New Jersey CD12.  But I need your help. My opponent is a career Trenton politician who has never worked in the private sector and has no ideas on how to make things better. New Jersey has not prospered while she has spent 20 years in the NJ Assembly. What will she do when she gets to Washington, other than continue the failed policies that have hurt us?

 

So please help me win this election so I can go to Washington to represent YOU! The invitation is attached.

 

Thank you.

 

Alieta Eck, MD

PO Box 5070

Somerset, NJ 08875

Eckforcongress.com