The 2004 AHDI House of Delegates approved a resolution that directed the Board of Directors and staff to explore the development of initiatives at the state and federal levels that encourages mandatory certification to practice medical transcription. No official criteria of skill levels for practicing MTs currently exist. Anyone may claim they are an MT without the need to satisfy any specific criteria to any regulating body. As the healthcare industry moves toward adoption of electronic health records, the scope of the job of a medical transcriptionist will continue to change dramatically. The adoption of an appropriate certifying process before any MT is allowed access to any facet of the patient documentation process would further AHDI's underlying mission to ensure greater accuracy of protected patient healthcare documentation. Adding successful completion of criteria for this credential to all AHDI-approved school curricula would send a message to healthcare providers that AHDI is working toward assuring that those who practice medical transcription are qualified to do it. The Legislative Issues Group, in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Association for Medical Transcription, has prepared this campaign packet for state and local components to use in developing a strategy for advocating for mandatory certification. Most important to this process is the relationships components will create with state legislators, allied health professional groups, health policy makers, and state regulatory bodies. As the process unfolds in each state that takes on this challenge, vital relationships will emerge and the visibility of the profession will increase exponentially in the areas of patient safety, risk management, revenue cycle creation, and health information management. The road to mandatory certification at the state level will be a new arena of competency for AHDI volunteer leaders, but you must remember that getting placed on the road and traveling down its twisting, winding corridors is the most valuable part of the process. Please take the time to seriously consider the items in this packet and use the AHDI Legislative Issues Group as a resource as you plan your strategy to move forward with this highly visible and important campaign. Together the entire organization can make a difference in positioning the profession for a better future.

AHDI Legislative Taskforce

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity supports legislative initiatives designed to support and strengthen medical transcriptionists and the health care field in general. Bills we currently support include:

A bipartisan group of legislators are introducing the “Small Business Health Fairness Act” (HR 525) aimed at significantly expanding access to quality health care for uninsured working families. This would allow small businesses to band together and purchase quality health care at a reduced cost, as much as 30%. The legislation puts small businesses, which currently share a disproportional share of health care cost, on equal footing with large corporations. AHDI is supporting this bill at our first ever Lobby Day in Washington, DC. Please write your local representatives and come to the Lobby Day on April 29, 2005. For more information please visit www.ahpsnow.com.

HR 215, the “Allied Health Professions Reinvestment Act,” was reintroduced in the 109th Congress by Representatives Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Ted Strickland (D-OH). This legislation aims to address the shortage of qualified medical transcriptionists in the industry by establishing, reauthorizing and reinvigorating allied health education programs under Title VII of the Public Health Services Act. To meet the demands of managing healthcare data in an electronic environment, Current academic and training programs need to be enhanced and funded, and students need to be recruited and supported,. Failure to address such workforce issues for medical transcriptionists and other allied health professions will have a negative impact on the delivery of healthcare in future years. HR 215 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Stearns and Strickland are both members. Stearns also chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. The legislation has not been published yet, nor has a companion bill been reintroduced in the Senate. This legislation will become one of several bills AHDI and its members will promote during AHDI Lobby Day on April 28, 2005.

AHDI Lobby Day Registration Form
AHDI Lobby Day Users Guide

Why Can’t We Buy Health Insurance Online?

By Karen Kerrigan

Americans purchased about $95 billion in goods and services over the Internet in 2003. This dynamism added significantly to entrepreneurship and our economy’s overall health and vitality. One important sector that could use a healthy dose of nationwide competition is health insurance.

We can buy just about everything else online or across state lines, and maybe it’s time that health coverage be added to the list. You might say that such a concept would probably take an act of Congress and you would be right.

Currently, many states erect barriers to affordable health insurance by passing laws that force consumers to buy insurance plans that cost too much and often contain benefits we don’t want or need.

Since 1980, state legislatures and the federal government have passed more than 1,000 laws that require consumers to pay for such benefits in their insurance policies. Large businesses and labor unions are exempt from these “mandated benefits” because they can self-insure under ERISA. That means individuals who buy their own policies and small employers end up paying the price for these politically popular but very expensive mandates.

The health insurance environment is intolerable in some states. Families who buy their own health insurance in New Jersey, for example, are forced to pay anywhere from $4,000 to $17,000 per month - that’s right, per month - for a health insurance policy with a $500 deductible. Who has that kind of money?

If consumers could buy health insurance across state lines, they could shop for a policy that meets their needs; it would be a national marketplace. They wouldn’t have to pay for benefits they don’t need or want. A New Jersey resident could purchase insurance for themselves or their family in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, or Alabama. Costs would come down, and more people could afford insurance -- all without a big government takeover of the health care system and the large tax increase that would be needed to fund such a scheme.

In the 108th Congress, U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) introduced a bill that would allow consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines, and President Bush included this provision in his health care agenda during the campaign. Consumers would be able to use the Internet or physically go to another state and buy a health insurance policy. The policy they buy would contain the benefits from the state where the consumer purchased the policy. Agents would be able to help out of state customers choose the right plan and then work with an agent in the customer’s home state to submit the application.

A Zogby poll conducted for the Council for Affordable Health Insurance found an overwhelming majority of Americans support such a bill - 72 percent support, 15 percent oppose, 13 percent are not sure. Even larger majorities of Latinos (86 percent) and African-Americans (85 percent) support a bill that would make health insurance available online.

Putting the power of the marketplace to work in order to solve one of our nation’s most pressing problems is the rationale driving this bill. Every Member of Congress should get on board. If we can purchase almost every other product or service across state lines, there is no reason why the one item we count on for our health security shouldn’t be on the list.

Ms. Kerrigan is chairman of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBEC), a trade association based in Washington, D.C. representing over 70,000 member small businesses.

To learn more about the "Health Care Choice Act – H.R. 4662"

Health Care Choice Act http://www.johnshadegg.com

Passage of Senate Bill 545, the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003, could make it easier for AHDI to sponsor an affordable health insurance plan for its members who are self-employed. But we need YOUR HELP to make this bill a reality. If this is a subject of concern to you or your colleagues, read on...

April 2004 News Release

Read the details about this legislation, including sample letters to senators

Read AHDI's Legislative Task Force Report Update to the 2003 House of Delegates

Search for Congressional Legislation

How to contact your senators by email

How to contact your senators by phone

Legislative Training Manual

The IRS and Classification of IC/Employees

Confused about whether you are an independent contractor (IC), a statutory employee (SE), or an employee? Wondering whether you have classified the MTs working for you properly? Trying to interpret IRS rules on IC versus employee status can be confusing, and, if done incorrectly can result in penalties and back taxes for both the MT and/or the employer. The IRS has simplified the process to receive a definitive ruling on your status that anyone can take advantage of. IRS Form SS-8, Determination of Worker Status for the Purpose of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding. This form can be utilized to clarify your individual tax determination and is available at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss8.pdf

Additional information regarding this issue can be found at the following links:

*Prior IRS case rulings regarding status:
http://www.taxlinks.com/rulings/1964/revrul64-280.htm http://www.taxlinks.com/rulings/1970/revrul70-340.htm *IRS instructional documents:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html -- Independent contractors versus employee
*IRS training manual for determining IC versus employee -- 160 pages PDF file
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/emporind.pdf *Publication 15-A.
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p15a/ar02.html#d0e298 NOLO Law for ALL
Working as an independent contractor
Hiring independent contractors
http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/index.cfm/catID/EC0EEB1C-16EA-4F81-833ED5890B19383A *DOL Court case and judgment against IC classification in Missouri

The House has introduced a bill, HR 4392, which will allow for tax credits for education and training. This one could have a major impact on our industry. Think of the possibilities! Read more here.