AMA Reverses Position, Says Open To Government-Funded Insurance

CNN:

(CNN) -- The new president of the American Medical Association, which represents the interests of the nation's doctors, said Wednesday the group is open to a government-funded health insurance option for people without coverage.

Dr. J. James Rohack told CNN that the AMA supports an "American model" that includes both "a private system and a public system, working together."

Read the whole story: CNN

Comments

[uvymopka]

Some of Obama's thugs got to them.

[emrogers]

thoughtful post

[getoffmedz]

"Obama thugs" can you be specific?

Very specific.

[Grunty1]

Well, he's assuming that since Bush/Ch3n3y still has thugs on national TV knee capping everyone in sight, that Obama must as well.

[IssuesInFocus]

Some good doctors got to them! If a public option is good for Congress-- which given the reports it is.. hey, why not share it among the American public? Great move my AMA.

[aj88]

uvymopka-
The new politically correct version is "Czars"...they are no longer called "thugs". Get with the times.

[Skyhawk]

Such as the people getting fed up with our current system and being vocal?

[RRoadrunner]

Step by step, inch by inch we'll get there.....

[iLogos]

So the AMA has a new president, and one which is willing to put the facts and people over the Insurance and Pharacy industries? About damn time. Here is to Dr. Rohack flipping on the Public Health Care Option.

[Jane48]

Rohack is not flipping. This 'option' is all privately run insurance! '

[olmossy]

I doubt very much , that the AMA has come down with a severe case of Compassion. Follow the dollars.

[PaxEterna]

Wolves in sheep's clothing.

They see which way the wind is blowing and now want to be part of the solution.

Why? Because they want to control the outcome.

Just watch ...this country is so corrupt.

[CountryBeforeParty]

That's life my friend.

If you're looking for the AMA to suddenly have an epiphany and a revelation that they need to be doing this because it's the right thing to do... go to church.

[jane gutowski]

Isnt it weird that AMA and Walmart and bond holders, bank execs and on and on were totally against Obamas policies and then did a complete turnaround?It must be his magnetic personality. I am sure noone was bought off or anything.

[MovingtoNorway]

they all want to be at the table carving up your right to sane health care

[olmossy]

They may know something about the upcomming plan , that you and I don't know.
Kinda like ' C'mon guys just pretend to go along with the new plan, we'll get it passed and it will be business as usual. They (thats us folks) will never know what hit them. '
Remember nothing that comes out of DC is ever what it appears to be.

[Mike Bradley]

The elected representatives should respect the wishes of a 2/3's majority of the American people.

[totaldisbelief]

They don't..They won't .....and They need to be gotten rid of.

[sandals]

These people are lying they have been fighting against any type of public option, so there is no change of heart.

[DirtyDawg]

As others have noted, all this is is a Brer' Rabbit/Briar Patch thing. The guy's earlier comment about 'an explosion of costs' must have meant that Doctors, in anticipation of having to 'discount' their services with a 'negotiated' public option system (like Medicare) would raise their rates first - kinda like retailers raising their prices just before they have a sale. As opposed to the Fed Employee plan where they don't negotiate a damn thing except how much more taxpayer dollars can we shovel to you 'Mr and Ms. Doctor'?

You know, it's interesting that the Rightwing Repug Pols are so supportive of their friends at WalMart when they beat their suppliers over the head to cut prices - and the suppliers do it just so they can gain access to the huge buying market that WalMart provides (without regard to what those cuts do to the suppliers' bottom lines, mind you - they think they'll make it up on volume). Now when the Government proposes that they 'negotiate' based on their ability to deliver potentially the entire US market to the medical industry, Repugs holler like stuck pigs. They do it because they know the American people - if we can get a better deal, we'll go for it and the honey-pot that the medical industry has been dipping into will, undoubtedly, shrink. Tough, I ain't no doctor and none of my kids are either.

[rubinoff]

DirtyDawg:

Bingo

[propitiousmoment]

Lawsuits pursued and paid for by individuals are the way our system polices the doctors. It's the only thing keeping them honest, since there is no serious oversight of their practices by government. Putting a cap on lawsuits only leaves the doctors and insurance companies free to get away with carelessness 100% of the time, instead of only 90%.

[careforall]

What kind of argument is that?
Pure ignorance...
or
Pure Greed,
or just another lie from another ambulance chaser graduated from a 3-tier law school?

Medical Malpractice Cases can be resolved without personal injury attorneys and is part of an effort to cut the cost of health care.
When healthcare provider cause harm, they should pay. However, without personal injury lawyers the patients will get more and will get it sooner.

[careforall]

"Frivolous lawsuits don't make it very far, they are weeded out before too much damage is done. Defense lawyers are extremely well paid to make that happen"
These are your own words, Mr. Propitiousmoment..
1.) So, Frivolous lawsuits do happen. Do the lawyers get disbar when they brought about such a case?
2.) So, lawyers are well paid. Wouldn't these money better spend on the patients...

That's right no one can get away 100% including you....

[careforall]

In your own words..

"I have no faith whatsoever in the Supreme Court to do the right thing.."

But you have faith in the lawyers to "police" the doctors?

[Grunty1]

Apparently someone touched a nerve

[FogBelter]

"(CNN) -- The new president of the American Medical Association, which represents the interests of the nation's doctors, said Wednesday the group is open to a government-funded health insurance option for people without coverage."

Correction: Not THE Nation's Doctors ... SOME of the Nation's Doctors. Not all Doctors are members of the AMA. And this is Time Warner telling us of the AMA's change of heart. It's not like Time Warner is going to ask any hard questions of the President of the AMA. Let's utilize a little Trust but Verify here. I have a problem with friend's of convenience.

[KHAAANNN]

Currently the AMA represents less than 20% of Doctors, and most of the ones who are members are SPECIALISTS (the highest paid of doctors.)

[careforall]

Yes! No cap on lawyers' fee!!!

http://abajournal.com/news/trial_lawyers_shift_from_edwards_to_obama/

We knew we can count on you and Joe..

American Trial Lawyers Association...the new AMA

[aflyinyoursoup]

Headline: "AMA Reverses Position"....
Well, not quite.

Rohack, who recently became AMA president, suggested Wednesday that the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program available to Congress and other federal employees could be expanded as a public option. That would avoid having to create a new program from scratch, he said.

I am a retired federal employee and I and my family have been covered under the FEHB program for over 30 years.

FEHB is nothing more than a vehicle that funnels TAXES through the federal government to "for-profit" so-called health care corporatio­ns.....Per­iod!

There will be the same amount of waste in the form of corporate profit and administrative costs that currently exist. NO CHANGE!... NADA...ZIP­...ZILCH..­.ZERO...SA­ME-SAME.

Rohack's couching of this issue is yet another ruse. Don't fall for it....

We need to "Create a new program from scratch"!!!

EUROPEAN STYLE SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE NOW.......

Anything less is a profit driven perversion!

[Peabodies]

I agree, aflyinyoursoup. The plan being used by Federal Employees is the same mishmash of private plans that we the people have today. The only difference may be that the govt pays the premiums, or that if a problem arises it is solved more quickly because of the clout of the govt.

What we really, truly need is an expansion of Medicare to all. It is a simple program (everybody in, nobody out -- if you're over 65 years old). You get a medical card, you choose your doctor, hospital, and the govt pays the bills, from our taxes. Yes there is a modest monthly contribution (less than $100). If we enlarged the risk pool to those under 65, the administrative costs would still be much lower than the legions of private paper pushers that we encounter today (less than 3% for Medicare, over 30% for the private plans). With those savings we can cover everyone (not the 97% touted from the latest rube goldberg contraption invented yesterday). The reason the AMA doesn't want this is that doctors would be paid decently as opposed to being able to charge extravagant fees.

Why don't our legislators visit the U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain on TRUE fact-finding missions? If they learned how these other countries operate their health care systems, they would be mortified to discover what a non-system we have.

We need Single Payer (Medicare for All) NOW. As an option.

[olmossy]

President Obama said we need an "American Version" of the European single payer.
Translate "American Version" from DCspeak to commonspea­k=="$$crew the People"

[RZoroaster]

This is kind of a disingenuous article. The AMA never came out against a public option. They only said they didn't feel it was the best choice. They still feel that way. This is just a re-wording of their old position. I spoke with the AMA president last week and he was furious that the AMA had been portrayed as anti-public option.

[careforall]

Disingenuous..? How about trying to cut cost without putting a cap on law suits...

Who is your daddy?
http://abajournal.com/news/trial_lawyers_shift_from_edwards_to_obama/

[tubette]

Then why didn't they speak out immediately?

[careforall]

Because they are clueless...
There are politicians in every profession, that what they are...
Look what UAW did to the american auto industry.

I am a physician. I an NOT an AMA member.
I am for single payer system with a cap attorneys' fee.
Pass the saving to my patients.
If I make a mistake, I want to see the money go to the patient not to the lawyers.

But the President is not for that....
http://abajournal.com/news/trial_lawyers_shift_from_edwards_to_obama/

[GeoLee]

I recently downloaded the helath plan available to all government employees. Basically it is a situation where in each state where thery are federal employees. the select from a plethora of companies that cover people in the area. For example in Arizona you get to choose between Aetna, Humana, Health net and United Health and between HMO's and low and high deductible plans, etc at differing rates and the employee picks up relatively minimal amount of the plan's cost. California had 12 different companies and about 26 payment options and level of care options. It is 50 pages long. The fact of the matter is that even our tax monies are paying much higher overhead so those companies will gain their excessive profits. The only way to cut costs in a private company directed plan is to limit the overhead and profit the companies can make off the sicknesses of Americans. Limit the CEO pay to ho higher than the President of the United States, for example. Force them to do their work in overhead as ch3aply as Medicare does in terms of processing and paperwork. . How many anti national Health Care idiots don't understand wht is driving up the cost is the stock markets need for quarterly profits. The fact is we have medical care for the benefit of the stock market as long and private companies run it. The government employees system is all set up for the profit of private companies many owned by who welse?

[iblogleft]

That was a good assessment.

[olmossy]

But President Obama again said yesterday that HE wanted a Government Admisinisterd plan included to keep the Ins. Co. honest. I don't think this is what the AMA is saying .
I feel giving them real competition would lower prices and the Government wouldn't be directly Supervising a private business.

If it is OUR government we should get Single Payer if thats what WE want OUR Government to do.

[propitiousmoment]

Somebody in another thread said that the health insurance companies' only involvement in government employees care is the processing of the claims, they get paid by how many payments they process and not by denying treatment. I would be very happy to let the insurance companies continue to process claims (for now) if we had single-payer. I hate that some twit with a high school diploma can decide from a cubicle somewhere whether or not I should get that root canal, but I don't actively wish them to become unemployed. They have the infrastructure and the personnel already in place, let them do the bookkeeping and let the government pay the bills, everybody covered, nobody denied, if you want super-extra-special insurance you can still buy it. No employer burden, let our businesses do what they are there for, pay a small tax instead of health insurance premiums, roll back some tax cuts for the top 5%, and there you are. Everybody wins, and no more obscene CEO pay on the backs of dying Americans.

[Paris]

The AMA does not speak for or represent the majority of this country's physicians. The figure of 25% is inflated at best and physicians are fleeing the organization. No wonder they are now suddenly changing their tune.

Though they try to perpetuate the myth that they are representing the interests of American physicians, this is in fact baloney. In fact, according to the AMA’s 2008 Annual Report, more than 85% of their $282 Million in revenues comes from sources other than membership dues. The AMA has consistently opposed meaningful health care reform in favor of insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

The sooner congress stops listening to this group the better.

[BBC9nch]

Is there anyone here from Canada? I understand they have a single payer (like) system. Is it working in Canada?

[undecidedaboutPOTUS]

I'm not from Canada, but we do have Canadians that frequently post here.

http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_12523427

This article from the Denver Post debunks many of the Myths about the Canadian system.
Lots of good info about how well the system works.

[themainpoint]

The Canadian health care system works just fine for Americans in Canada! I had a small emergency in Canada and there was no wait. The Canadian doc also LISTENED and did not pretend to be god. He gave me what I needed and charged a fair fee (maybe 1/10th of what I would have paid in US and maybe 1/50th of a US emergency fee)

Even with premium insurance, I always wait in the US and it's embarrassing to watch some docs rush patients in and out every five minutes in such a frenzy to get onto the next fee. I've trashed countless prescriptions for things that either cleared up on their own or issues I resolved myself after consulting andrew weil's site for natural methods.

Cost reduction is the key in US Wealth Care. The prices are set up to be higher than the market would bear to line the pockets of insurance companies that don't want to pay when people get really sick, and drug companies that give bonuses to doctors who prescribe their drugs the most, and a medical industry happily bankrupting people when they fall ill. It's disgusting.

I have also been treated for NOTHING in a very poor country, by a doctor who responsibly asked tons of questions, resolved my problem, then refused to take a fee