On the one hand I’m glad to see the American Medical Association opposing the socialism plans of Obama when it comes to health care, but on the other hand they got what they asked for as Robert Pear notes in his new article today about the opposition from the AMA, a majority of them gave to Democrats last year:
As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system.
The opposition, which comes as Mr. Obama prepares to address the powerful doctors’ group on Monday in Chicago, could be a major hurdle for advocates of a public insurance plan. The A.M.A., with about 250,000 members, is America’s largest physician organization.
While committed to the goal of affordable health insurance for all, the association had said in a general statement of principles that health services should be “provided through private markets, as they are currently.” It is now reacting, for the first time, to specific legislative proposals being drafted by Congress.
They can smell the stink from this mess Obama is getting us into, or wants to get us into anyway. Obama wants a “public health insurance option” which would supposedly compete with private insurance. But everyone knows they will undercut the prices which means most everyone will leave private insurance…on top of that if you do chose to get your own insurance stand by for more taxes. After all that we will have one plan, a government run plan.
Doctors know full well the mess that is Medicare and they don’t want something worse then that. Ed Morrissey:
Many doctors have given up on Medicare altogether, refusing to take any new Medicare-insured patients, because Medicare doesn’t cover the costs of providing their service. Medicare is also a paperwork nightmare, as I can attest from first-hand experience. They often withdraw payments already given to doctors a year or more later over some hiccup in their internal accounting. The headaches of getting reimbursements makes Medicare business unprofitable.
Can you just imagine the bureaucracy that would be created by Obama’s plan? The waste and corruption that would rise from that cesspool would be disgusting not to mention the horrible health care we would receive from then on.
I mean who in their right mind would want to go through all those years of schooling and incurring all that debt to go into an occupation which will no longer compensate you as you should be?
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[robot] Bush’s fault. Obama is savior. [/robot]
I can attest to Medicare arbitray rulings. I am a diabetic. A couple of months ago my medicine abruptly quit working. My doctor tried several different medicines and none of them worked. The only way he could know this is with blood tests. It stands to reason that he would do a blood test on each differnet medicines after I had taken them for a couple of weeks. Medicare refused not only to pay the doctor for the blood tests but also the several office visits I made. My A1C tests were all high (9.6) and my daily testing was in the upper 200s and low 300s. That was border;ome damgerpis and could cause many horrible side effects if I and my doctor had done nothing.
They will NOT oppose all of Obama’s health care socialism plans.
They will beg and plead for the government to force everyone in the entire United States to buy a product that leads to them getting more services.
Of course we are PRO-BUSINESS right! We don’t care about freedom! We just want the businesses to have all our monies.
Who cares whether or not he has a public option if there is mandatory health insurance.
How is being forced to pay a bunch of private corporations with government laws requiring them to “not discriminate” based on actual risk not the same thing.
Only it is worse because these are private companies not the government, who we generally give taxes to anyway.
Stop supporting fascism as if it is any better than normal socialism.
And be ashamed of yourself if you are a high-risk person applauding the requirements that everyone pay just about the same amount after being forced to buy insurance.
Why are we the ONLY industrialized nation in the world without a national healthcare system?
Because the insurance companies want it that way and pay MILLIONS of dollars to lobbyists to keep it that way. The insurance industry consumes 31% nearly 1/3 OF EVERY HEALTH CARE DOLLAR SPENT TODAY. Frankly it is time for single payer health care. We as a nation would save $350 BILLION per year by doing so. Would you like to make US industry more competitive? Take the health care burdon off of the backs of employers which is a now costing them more than a tax increase to pay for it by FAR! Frankly Obama’s plan doesn’t go far enough!
See the Physicians for a National Health Care Program web site at:
@ RAP
So, if the other industrialized nations jump off a cliff, you want to also? Why would you want the government to take care of you? You want them to tell you what to read, what to watch, what to listen to, what to wear?
I won’t sit here and say there isn’t a problem with our current system. Regulations that are most assuredly lobbied by the insurance companies have a lot to do with it. Small businesses aren’t allowed to team together for better coverage plans, that’s a big problem. The cost of healthcare is obviously high. But the government can’t make this better. Obama just fired an Inspector General because he found fraud that involved one of Obama’s buddies. You don’t think there will be even more fraud with a government run system than a private system? Look at congress. They are without a doubt the biggest group of crooks on the planet, republicans and democrats alike.
And didn’t Obama promise he wouldn’t nationalize healthcare. Doesn’t that bother you at all? He is breaking almost every promise he’s made.
Aqua,
I want the government to make healthcare a RIGHT not a service for the privileged who can afford medical insurance. Why would I want the government to take care of me? I want the government to pay medical expenses for everyone! Leave no one out! It would be 350 billion dollars cheaper than the way we do it now.
No, Obama did not promise to Nationalize Healthcare. That is another right wing lie!
Said during the campaign by Sen. Tom Coburn, Mitt Romney, Sara Palin and other Republi-cons
Obama promised to create a national health insurance exchange. That is not Nationalizing healthcare. That is designed to help those that have no health insurance.
And NO he is not breaking almost every promise he has made. That is more right wing BS spewed often, but far from the truth.
here is the truth: from Politifact.com
Promises kept: 30
Compromise: 8
Promises broken: 6
Stalled: 10
In the works: 65
No action yet: 396
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/promise-kept/?page=2
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/promise-broken/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/subjects/politifacts-top-promises/
Most of the cause and effect that gave us this outrageously high cost medical industry can be traced to two things: The change in the hospital corporations from non-profit to for profit. and The higher costs of increased litigation in malpractice suits. (And the result of greed of all involved.)
Ask anyone in the military… would they prefer a civilian hospital (public medicine) or military issued medical treatment? Why are Canadian citizens coming to our hospitals? Why do the drug fiends go to canada for their subscriptions (staring to smell isn’t it?) ? If anything, corruption will just sky rocket under government run health care.
The government messes up everything they touch. WHY does the lib-tard left think that the government is the solution? The real question is: will government health care be better than what we have? Or is it just supposed to cover more people? Quantity over quality doesn’t go over well with me in medicine. Especially if I am in the circumstance of having my 2 year old son, riddled with cancer, and needing the best health care on the planet. Government response: get in line. Lib tard left response, now isn’t this better? See that waiting room, it is full of people! The doctors response? Why should I strive to be the best in my field. My rates will be on par with the worst doctors.
If somehow there could be a rating system, it would have to be federalized and that would cost more money than we can imagine. Our current system: if the doctor sucks, he goes out of business. If the doctor is like House, he is rewarded by lots of money and incentives to be the best. We just eliminated another federal run program of sorting out whom is better than whom. Ingenious? No, just common sense. Maybe that is why the left doesn’t get it.
Lets weed out the and fix the model we have. Keep health care competitive and a field that is well paid. If you disagree, let me know next time someone is about to open up your insides… We can have the discussion about who you want working on you.
thanks
@ RAP
That’s actually a pretty good web site. I have bookmarked it, thanks.
You misread what I said. I said:
I believe he is trying to do just that. Even if you want to keep your current provider, they are moving to make it economically painful for you to do so.
@ liam09
When you’re on active duty, the military takes pretty good care of you. They have a lot of PA’s though. And you’re going to get a young enlisted person doing OJT while drawing blood, which can be a bit painful. But the overall quality of care in the active duty military is pretty good. I think you were thinking of the VA. Not so good.
I have only one comment. America is heading down a path where only civilization can survive and liberty is dying of thirst.
“None are more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they are free.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.