Axne amendment included in House-passed H.R. 3

An amendment to increase healthcare administration efficiency by Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne has been included in legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug costs.

The House Thursday passed H.R. 3 on a party-line vote. The bill would allow the government to negotiate for lower prices on up to 250 prescription drugs in the Medicare program. Axne's amendment aims to cut the amount of redundancy in paperwork for doctors and other healthcare providers.

"As a mom, I've spent hours in doctor's offices with sick kids," said Axne. "Nothing is more frustrating than when a doctor has to spend more time looking at their computer screen than helping our children. I've taken time off work only to end up sitting in waiting rooms, because the doctor is running behind. It's all because of a mountain of paperwork they must do for every single person that they see."

The amendment would create a $250 million grant program for states to reduce administrative costs. Axne says the program would cut 50% of costs over a 10 year period to pay for itself.

"It will help doctors spend more time with their patients, including children like mine and those across Iowa," said Axne. "It will save money, because it makes required medical administration more efficient. My amendment will reduce the time crying kids have to wait for their parents to fill out that paperwork before they go into the doctor's office. My amendment will cut red tape and federal spending."

A 2016 survey by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid found that doctors spend twice as much time on administrative work than they do with their patients. The study also found that doctors spend one-third of their time in the exam on a computer.

"I have the opportunity to travel all 16 counties in my district every month," said Axne. "I've met with doctors, nurses and physician's assistants. They've told me how exhausting and unnecessary all that extra work is. In 2016, doctors said they are spending almost twice as much time on administrative work than they are with their patients. That's just wrong."

H.R. 3 is not expected to gain much traction in the Republican-controlled Senate. The White House has also indicated that President Trump would veto the bill if it passes.