Re: ASMBS & OAC Participate in HHS Forum

Dear ASMBS Membership,

Representatives from the Access to Care and State Chapter ASMBS Committees and Obesity Action Coalition– including Dr. John Morton ( Chair- Access), Joseph Kuhn (Texas State Chapter President), and Tammy Ferguson, Pam Davis and Walt Medlin (OAC)– provided live testimony to the Health and Human Services Regional Listening Sessions on the Essential Health Benefits Package this past month. This package, commonly referred to as a set of essential health benefits (EHB), constitutes a minimum set of benefits that the plans must cover. The EHB are intended to cover health care needs, to promote services that are medically effective, and to be affordable to purchasers. The EHB will likely set the standard for coverage for medical services in the future and we plan to ensure bariatric surgery is part of that package.

John Morton, MD
Chair, Access to Care Committee