Very few people know about the Relative Value Unit Update Committee or the RUC. Formed in 1992, it was composed of representatives from all the medical specialties including our little American Academy of Family Physicians. In summary, 29 health professionals set the prices for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and in turn, the insurance companies. And guess who got paid the least?
Here is an article by the AAFP in 2008.
Of the 29 members of the RUC, only five currently represent primary care specialties as defined by the AAFP. The vast majority of the representatives to the RUC are appointed by other surgical, procedural or subspecialties. As a result, the work of representing primary care issues to the RUC has often been difficult.
The AAFP, through its RUC representation, is attempting to ensure that the process serves family medicine as well as it possibly can. There is much work to be done.
It has been 33 years since this debacle. How have things gotten better in the system? How much work has been done by the AAFP since that article in 2008?
It’s time for family docs to leave the RUC prison. Direct Primary Care is our only hope. Save the money you would be paying to the AAFP and use it to get your freedom.