AMA opposes health care reform

The American Medical Association has long been criticized for being a poor representative of our country's physicians.

The AMA has long opposed publicly funded health care, and it was once against even the Medicare program. The organization defeated health care reform in the '90s and has tried to gut patients' efforts to win malpractice awards.

The AMA has long crusaded in favor of government censorship of media materials. The Last Word of 6/30/07 describes the AMA's effort to encourage the Federal Trade Commission to stiffen the oft-ridiculed video game rating system (a form of government censorship).

Now the AMA is opposing the Obama administration's efforts to fix America's broken medical system. It particularly opposes a public insurance plan to compete with private insurance. The AMA says insurance should continue to be provided only through the private market - the same private market that has jacked up prices and refused to approve life-saving treatments.

This even as doctors are so hamstrung by private insurers that they've sought alternatives.

On the other hand, health care reform should focus more on the medical delivery system than in trying to make us all buy insurance. The priority should be on getting health care when we need it, not having to worry about insurance. After years of corporatist rule though, who really expects an ideal outcome?

(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/us/politics/11health.html)