From our March 22, 2001, edition.

Thornberry sponsors bill to simplify paperwork 

WASHINGTON, DC - US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) this week introduced legislation aimed at reducing and simplifying the amount of paperwork in the nation’s health care system.

The bill is called The Health Care Paperwork Reduction and Fraud Prevention Act.  The measure would establish a bipartisan commission to review the health care system and consider, among other things, whether government agencies should be required to use standardized credentialing and billing forms (which private sector insurance companies would be encouraged to use as well).

The bill is in part the result of meetings Thornberry held with area doctors over the past 12 months and a series of town hall meetings on health care he is holding this year. 

“I’ve heard a lot of different concerns and complaints about the Nation’s health care system,” Thornberry stated.  “But one concern that seems to stand out is the overwhelming amount of forms and paperwork that doctors and patients have to fill out. 

“It is truly incredible.  Today in America, if a doctor wants to treat a person who happens to be on Medicare or Medicaid, they have to contend with over 132,000 pages of rules and regulations.  Over 132,000 pages!  That’s over 10 times bigger than the US tax code, and we all know how complex that is.  In fact, if you have a hard time figuring out your taxes on April 15th, you probably have a good idea of what most doctors have to put up with every day. 

“Health care is by no means an easy issue.  But there’s got to be an easier way of doing things when it comes to the forms and paperwork people have to fill out.  My bill’s intended to look at ways to help solve some of the problems in this area which doctors and patients currently face.”

In addition to establishing a commission to look into these problems and report back within a year on possible solutions, Thornberry’s bill would also provide immediate assistance by, among other things, establishing a toll-free number for doctors to call if they have questions about billing or need any other information related to Medicare.  The ultimate goal, Thornberry said, was to look for ways to reduce the federal paperwork burden on the Nation’s doctors and patients - something which physicians in the 13th Congressional District agree needs to be done.

“The volume of regulations is so huge and so grotesquely convoluted as to be unknowable,” said Dr. James W. Godwin of Wichita Falls.  “The law needs to be simple enough, logical enough, and pertinent enough to daily life that compliance is simple and straightforward.”

Dr. Sheryl Williams of Amarillo agreed.  “I love seeing patients,” she stated, “but lately the paperwork – endless dictation with the proper number of case history elements to support the proper federal code – makes the practice of medicine less than satisfying.”