Doctors oppose “public plan” in ObamaCare
posted at 2:15 pm on June 11, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
The AMA has a long history of supporting government-subsidized health care, but has always drawn the line at a system of socialized medicine, ie, single-payer. The current plans wending their way through the House and Senate would normally have gotten enthusiastic support from the AMA, but the association has balked at a key proposal from the administration:
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.
The AMA wants the legislation to focus on leveraging private-market insurance instead of government-backed plans, and for good reason: they’ve dealt with Medicare. 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.
However, as the New York Times’ Robert Pear reports, the public plan is the key element to ObamaCare. The White House claims that they want to use it to keep insurers “honest,” but competition and sensible regulation do that. They want to have an option to offer a loss-leader plan that will undercut the private insurers on price so that they will get forced out of the health-care sector, which will leave a single-payer plan in place by default. The AMA understands this better than anyone, and will mobilize to keep from getting locked into a Medicare nightmare with no escape.
To a certain extent, though, the AMA brought this upon themselves. Pear also reports that they broke with a trend of supporting Republicans in national elections in 2008, giving 56% of their donations to Democrats. They got the Congress and the White House they wanted, even though Obama and the Democrats made it perfectly clear how they envisioned ObamaCare. I’m glad to see the AMA fighting this, but they deserve the Captain Louis Renault Award for their shock, shock! that Democrats want to impose socialized medicine:
Well, at least they’re blowing the whistle now.
Blowback
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They may have gotten the Congress and White House… but will the people balk at the Doctors who are part of the AMA, who are democrat?
I think these Doc’s are seeing the light… and it is dim.
upinak on June 11, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Would it be too much to hope that in a death match between the administration and the AMA, they both lose?
Vashta.Nerada on June 11, 2009 at 2:19 PM
“Opposition” is irrelevant to Obama and the Socialists. That’s the whole point of Socialism. The State will dictate to us, regardless of opposition.
Welcome to Utopia.
OhEssYouCowboys on June 11, 2009 at 2:19 PM
So the AMA doesn’t want to be come the ObAMA?
RandyChandler on June 11, 2009 at 2:22 PM
Odd… I was doing a little research and the AMA was all for this last year but dead set against it in 93 as well…
Skywise on June 11, 2009 at 2:22 PM
A certain extent?
They stood silent as the bloodsucking trial lawyers made the cost of health care skyrocket, while the jackass politicians who are taking bribes from the lawyers, demonized pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies.
Did they really think the Democrats wouldn’t train their sites on providers next? How stupid is the AMA?
Sociology professors will make more than doctors after Barack Obama, Esq. gets done with “reforming” health care.
The next big thing will be “do it yourself” health care, because you’ll get nothing out of Democrats besides skyrocketing taxes and the same tired excuses for why their idiotic scheme du jour doesn’t work, “not enough funding”, “greed”, etc.
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 2:24 PM
Elitist!! How dare they! LOL
djaymick on June 11, 2009 at 2:24 PM
I’m thinking the IRS will be knocking on the door of any AMA member that protests too much.
scorpio9 on June 11, 2009 at 2:25 PM
This news coupled with the Chamber of Commerce’s new campaign to defend capitalism is welcome reinforcements. A massive ad campaign is needed to wake up the sheeple.
Lou Budvis on June 11, 2009 at 2:25 PM
From Barack’s Teleprompter:
“As Toes (Rahm Immanuel) says: the doctors will like it … or they can practice medicine at the bottom of Lake Michigan and see how well that billing system works for them.”
Love that TOTUS!
VibrioCocci on June 11, 2009 at 2:26 PM
I noticed that today in his little speech and Q&A session that he failed to mention and nobody asked (from his selective audience) that sure, he’ll ALLOW private insurance policies to exist and ALLOW people to have a choice, but he failed to mention that if you DECIDE to do that for yourself and family, that he’s going to be sure you get your ass taxed back to the stone age.
Good. Great. Wonderful.
Spiritk9 on June 11, 2009 at 2:26 PM
So the AMA con go back the the GOP for support and the lawyers can stick with the dems…that should characterize the issue for the American people rather succinctly.
Mr Snuggle Bunny on June 11, 2009 at 2:26 PM
To use an analogy, most physicians are FoxNews and AMA-associated physicians are MSNBC ratings wise. I don’t think for five seconds that today’s current “AMA position” hasn’t been approved and pre-authorized by this Whaite House.
Isn’t Messiah’s speech on Monday, in Chicago, to the ultra-liberal AMA? Surely, you don’t expect them to be in agreement yet!
Marcus on June 11, 2009 at 2:27 PM
Hopenchange healthcare: the cure for being a medical professional and a democrat
CMonster on June 11, 2009 at 2:27 PM
The AMA wouls also fight a strong move towards a free market in health care. They do not want to see the high-dedcutible\HSA become the most common health insurance choice. This would force them to compete for customers, cause many to forgo unnecessary trips to the doctor, etc.
The AMA will fight for the status quo. People removed from the financial decision making process without full out government control.
WashJeff on June 11, 2009 at 2:27 PM
If recent history is any indicator it doesn’t matter what the AMA wants. The government will simply take over the insurers and force them to become part of the “Obamacare Network” which promises to be just as efficient and timely as anything that the old Soviet Union had.
Not that political elites like the Obama’s will be under the same rules his administration is demanding for “All Americans.” There will be special clinics for these people.
highhopes on June 11, 2009 at 2:28 PM
I imagine Medicare processing is the bane of existence in every hospital and doctor’s office across the country, however, the present and future recipients of that program could care less. The AMA needs to describe in detail what these problems mean for those seeking healthcare.
That’s rich, coming from the most ethical administration ever.
sherry on June 11, 2009 at 2:29 PM
The White House claims that they want to use it to keep insurers “honest,”
who’s gonna keep the wh honest?
SHARPTOOTH on June 11, 2009 at 2:29 PM
Can you imagine the bureaucracy that’s going to be created by all of this? The costs of administration? The waste? The corruption? The utter contempt for the sick?
Welcome to Utopia.
OhEssYouCowboys on June 11, 2009 at 2:30 PM
The AMA are a bunch of hypocrites. They like government supported health care as long as the money goes into their pockets to supplement the money from the insurance companies for those who can’t afford insurance. Now, however, it looks like their revenues might drop if everybody gets on “medicare”. Now the reality of socialized medicine sinks in.
Imagine if the government offered to pay for the home improvements of the poor or elderly? I can assure you the home improvement contractors in America would be in favor of such a plan, too. Imagine that for a moment. Free painting and decorating. Free tiling. Free drywall. Free kitchen installation. Free crown molding, free flooring, all paid for by the government. You hire a contractor and he sends the bill to Uncle Sam. No squabbling about price. Just bill it. Everybody has a right to a properly kept home. People can’t be expected to live in a dump, right, just because they can’t afford the renovations.
Social justice!
What a bonanza for anybody in the home improvement business.
Or car repair business. Just have the auto shop bill the government.
keep the change on June 11, 2009 at 2:31 PM
If they, the doctors, want it easy, accept only: cash, visa, mastercard, discover, and AMEX. No personal checks.
WashJeff on June 11, 2009 at 2:31 PM
What does the AMA know about health care?
Time for B.O. to comb through his campaign volunteer lists, and find a 23-year-old web site designer (with a strong work background in shopping cart retrieval) to take them on as his new Health Czar.
Bruce in NH on June 11, 2009 at 2:32 PM
The Democrats have an Army of Lawyers, both elected and as contributors.
Why do we never hear talk of “reforming the legal system”?
Does anyone who has ever had to hire a lawyer for any reason, find it “affordable”? Isn’t justice a right?
Than why don’t the Democrats tackle something they know about? They don’t know jack about health care.
Is it because what’s laughingly referred to as our “justice system” is working out just dandy for greedy lawyers and the politicians they bribe to preserve the legal racket?
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 2:32 PM
When the government sends me home to die because treatment would not be cost-effective, I hope my loved ones find me a ice floe that has a recliner and satellite tv.
kingsjester on June 11, 2009 at 2:34 PM
The legal system (i.e., the lawyers) makes the laws.
WashJeff on June 11, 2009 at 2:35 PM
AMA – you got what you voted for – enjoy.
dpierson on June 11, 2009 at 2:35 PM
Which curiously enough, seems to result in plenty of lawyers living in mansions and sailing yachts.
Democrats demonize every profession under the sun, except, curiously enough, lawyers.
Do Democrats really think we can build an economy based on suing one another? Do Democrats think that possibly, at some point, some one is actually going to have to produce something that someone else actually wants and is not forced to pay for?
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 2:39 PM
I’m telling you the CHICAGO based LIBERAL A.M.A. (that the majority of physicians in the US have nothing to do with) are playing “spoiler” now because Messiah has not yet “spoken” to them. On Monday the scales will fall from their eyes and rainbows will shoot out of their rears. Kumbya-ya-my Lord, Kumbya-ya…
Marcus on June 11, 2009 at 2:40 PM
Show a doctor cash anymore, and they will give you a discount at times now.
Well my doctor does. He hates CC’s.
upinak on June 11, 2009 at 2:40 PM
+1 Portmanteau of the Day
bluelightbrigade on June 11, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Though they may indeed deserve that Captain Louis Renault Award (which I love seeing; keep it up), I suppose this ought to be counted as a win for us, at least in some small part. If little by little we can stave off larger disasters, I’m all for taking the help where we can get it.
Heresy of Cain on June 11, 2009 at 2:41 PM
First they came after the taxpayers to bailout the banks.
The AMA did nothing, because they have bank deposits.
Then they came after the taxpayers to bailout the auto companies.
The AMA did nothing, because they own auto company bonds.
Then they came after the doctors.
And there was no one left.
pedestrian on June 11, 2009 at 2:42 PM
This is where the AMA needs to change, IMHO. The old way of for-profit private medical services is unacceptable. Every American deserves top notch, affordable healthcare and we must no longer have to jump through hoops to obtain it.
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 2:43 PM
He gives you a 10% discount and keeps the other 26% savings (26.8% in 2011) and an reported income below $250,000.
WashJeff on June 11, 2009 at 2:43 PM
I wonder if BHO ever truly learned about free market capitalism?
Suckage to the max.
StockOption on June 11, 2009 at 2:44 PM
I loved this opinion inserted in the story by the Times:
Translation?: Don’t fight this or else!
Buy Danish on June 11, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Whatever service you provide, I want it top notch and at no cost. And I don’t want to have to jump through hoops either.
pedestrian on June 11, 2009 at 2:46 PM
My father can attest to this as well. In February of this year, my 77-year-old mother was hospitalized for treatment of lung cancer, and the doctors recommended chemotherapy, which was to be administered by Hospice Care, which was supposedly covered by Medicare. The hospital is not part of Hospice care, but somehow a bill for $110,000 was submitted to Medicare, which declined payment over some administrative SNAFU about whether my mother was under the care of the hospital or Hospice care at the time, and both the hospital and Hospice Care are still waiting to be paid, and putting pressure on my father, although my mother died on March 24.
Still not paid after 2-1/2 months–no wonder the doctors don’t want to deal with Medicare!
Steve Z on June 11, 2009 at 2:46 PM
And those doctors that study for 8+ years, take out massive loans to fund their studies, and go through exhausting years as interns should then in turn accept government control of their wages. They do not need to earn $200K a year, or even above $100K. The warm feelings of serving their fellow men should suffice.
WashJeff on June 11, 2009 at 2:47 PM
So you support the reinstitution of slavery, then?
Because one person’s “right” in this case, means that another person has an obligation.
And thinking that “top-notch” anything should be affordable, is a childish, idiotic notion.
Every single health care provider you meet is a highly trained, highly compensated individual. Every piece of technology is incredibly expensive to design, to produce and to maintain. Every miracle drug out there is expensive to design and to produce.
If this idiot Obama decides that doctors are making too much, guess what? We’ll have a lot less doctors. No one will enter the profession, go through the hell it takes to be a doctor, to make $75,000 a year. It won’t happen.
I can’t believe how stupid Obama’s plan is, but I do understand that there a lot of naive people out there who support it. What I can’t accept that as a result, my family and I are going to have lousy health care because both groups (Democrats and their supporters) are complete idiots.
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 2:49 PM
The Statists have to attain enough control Before they can suppress the opposition – and they need a good “Crisis”, as in:
THEN they can suppress the opposition, and take away our right to self-defense, seize private property, etc……………
Chainsaw56 on June 11, 2009 at 2:49 PM
FIFY
Rovin on June 11, 2009 at 2:50 PM
In the Age of rationed ObamaCare, now that Dr. Tiller is dead, Obama will nominate Dr. Kevorkian.
Steve Z on June 11, 2009 at 2:51 PM
You nailed it. Obama and Rahm don’t really care if the average citizen has to wait 6 hours to see their doctor for a simple appointment.
Hip replacement? Forget it, get on the list. No matter that you worked your way in life to get the best medical care possible, from the socialist’s point of view everyone has a right to see YOUR doctor.
The Doctors see it differently too. They worked their way into specialties and found comfortable niches that fit their lifestyles.
I personally know of doctors that are retiring. Two doctors in our clinic are taking early retirement.
My main doctor is going back full time military. It’s simple for him, if he is forced to take any and all patients he prefers serving those putting it on the line for our freedoms every day.
I’ll miss him.
FireBlogger on June 11, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Bull Cookies!!!!
How many times do we have to say this:
It’s not a right if SOMEONE else has to pay for it.
Or more specifically, You can’t deserve something if SOMEONE else has to pay for it
And forget about the ‘trial by jury’ or court appointed attorney nonsense. That’s a case of the individual being protected from the government. Not an open ended need that knows no bounds.
Chainsaw56 on June 11, 2009 at 2:56 PM
At the local clinic and hospital, if you are paying the bill out of pocket (no insurance), they cut the bill by 40%. I guess that’s their expense in dealing with the insurance companies.
txsurveyor on June 11, 2009 at 2:57 PM
My husband has been in healthcare for over 30 years. This morning another 3 doctors quit. One retired (although he isn’t old) the other two decided to leave healthcare. This is what is going to happen people. This makes 14 doctors just at 3 of our hospitals in the last month. Thank you Obama. You better get on the phone and stop this trainwreck.
suzyk on June 11, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Doctors should not be in the profession to make money. I believe this culture of greed in the medical sector must come to an end.
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Why?
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Lie down with the dogs….
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Agree and the bonus is, they’ll just use the excuses that fool the American people, with regards to our overfunded, underperforming public “schools”.
“Republicans aren’t funding our schools properly”. “Competition takes money away from public schools”.
What will really help is when the Democrats unionize doctors and nurses. We’ll have a bunch of third-world providers who can’t speak English as doctors/nurses, but at least they will be contributing to Democrat re-election campaigns.
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 2:59 PM
Thanks, SG! I’ve got some bills I need to pay. Can you just PayPal me the money… or do you teenagers have a better way to transfer funds? Remember, it’s not really your money anyway… it’s EVERYBODY’s money.
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 2:59 PM
Do you feel the same about lawyers?
How do you intend to enforce this and do you foresee any problems?
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 3:00 PM
My mother went through chiropractic college with several Canadians, and all of them said they would be practicing the U.S. because Canada doesn’t pay enough to justify the effort and expense of getting through school.
txsurveyor on June 11, 2009 at 3:01 PM
The LP in Britain was bragging last year that they cut the wait from 18 weeks down to 13 weeks. Hurray!!
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:01 PM
It doesn’t matter what the AMA supports or opposes. As long as the media continues to portray Ogabe as Christ-like, and as long as congress sees their future tied to “the One”, it will probably pass. The next election will see the Democrats gain seats or hold steady. The media will see to that. No faith left in the electorate. They are too damned stupid and have surrendered their freedom for the mirage of security.
God, please let me be wrong.
SKYFOX on June 11, 2009 at 3:02 PM
So you have some magic powers to change the natural inclinations of people?
Is there compensation, in general, a direct result of how well they are serving their pateints?Would a bad doctor make $200,000? I hope not. A good one? Don’t care if he helps me in a way that satisfy me.
WashJeff on June 11, 2009 at 3:03 PM
ND… she’s apparently extremely ignorant of economics. Good luck getting a coherent answer anything above “Trees are pretty cool! I think everybody should have one as a friend and the government should pay* for it!”
*The answer to “where does government get this money?” is always “from rich people, silly.”
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:03 PM
The good news is that the wait is even less if you die while waiting.
But at least it’s “affordable” and you don’t have to jump through hoops to die.
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Well, Pelosi has given the finger to any option other than state control of our privates, so our only option is to…
DEFEAT THE THREAT OF MARXIST HEALTHCARE
madmonkphotog on June 11, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Medical costs could be reduced with some much needed tort reform that could reduce the cost of malpractice insurance.
Elbar on June 11, 2009 at 3:05 PM
My husband is a doctor who still takes Medicare (although he’s doing his best to turn his practice into a “cash-based” rather than “insurance-based” practice. Four years ago he relocated his office. It took Medicare OVER A YEAR to change the address – and they would not pay him until they changed the address. It didn’t matter how many faxes, registered letters, phone calls, etc., they received. It still took OVER A YEAR to change the address.
Now, think about it. That was a simple thing that most insurance companies can handle online. And the government couldn’t handle it at all. What do you honestly think governmental single payer health “insurance” is going to look like?
ElvenPhoenix on June 11, 2009 at 3:05 PM
How about you study to become a doctor then, give your services away for free and set an example for the rest of us?
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Not necessarily. I think healthcare is a special case where I believe the culture of greed must come to an end.
I believe greed should be discouraged in the health services culture and that people should be motivated to become doctors out of a desire to serve, not earn.
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 3:06 PM
So if I’m of exceptional intelligence and ability… why would I go into medicine if I’d make the same as the Assistant Manager at Wal-Mart?
Don’t you think the best and brightest would choose other professions thus leaving both a shortage of doctors in general… and specifically a shortage of competent ones?
Where do you work? I’d like to have a word with your employer… and I’m still waiting for that PayPal transfer.
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses, [your studious, your doctors] longing to be free…
May we never ever cease being the place where people yearning to be the best they can possible be can come to realize their dreams.
WashJeff on June 11, 2009 at 3:07 PM
When I have someone operating on me, I want them to be able to be paid well enough that they are focused on me and not worrying about their next mortgage payment. And I appreciate the fact that a nice house and vacation getaways are needed from time to time when someone is doing a highly repetitive job, where any mistake can cost a life and a lifetime of study and work invested in a career.
pedestrian on June 11, 2009 at 3:07 PM
See my above comment. I believe healthcare providers must reject the culture of greed that is so pervasive in the industry.
I think at the end of the day, healthcare should no longer be an industry but a guaranteed right of all Americans.
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 3:08 PM
SouthernGal,
Please check with getalife for this answer. I’m sure you two must have been twins in another life.
(I’m all for Obama coming up with money explaining the abnormal genetics phenomenon)
Rovin on June 11, 2009 at 3:08 PM
I think unicorns should roam free and public water fountains should dispense ice cream.
Go to school forever… work your butt off… put your exceptional intelligence to the test… so you can live in a three-bedroom apartment and have Ramen Noodles for supper. Yeah, that’ll happen.
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:08 PM
That doesn’t answer the question.
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:09 PM
As long as this person is serving his fellow Americans, he or she will be doing the right thing.
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 3:10 PM
Give me a break, Doctors go into medicine to help people and to MAKE money.
You start paying physicians 65k a year and the only doctors available in a few years will be from third world countries serving here on work visas.
FireBlogger on June 11, 2009 at 3:10 PM
Amen.
txsurveyor on June 11, 2009 at 3:10 PM
I hope it passes and people have to wait for treatment, and suffer. I hope lib gradmas die waiting for simple procedures and tests. I say this in jest, but it would wake these kool aid drinkers up.
The anger is building. The revolution is coming in 2010 and 2012.
marklmail on June 11, 2009 at 3:11 PM
If you are having open heart surgery and you happen to see your doctor pull into the hospital as you arrive. Would you rather have him, or her, step out of a 2002 Ford Taurus or a 2009 Audi A8?
WashJeff on June 11, 2009 at 3:12 PM
It’s not a right if SOMEONE else has to pay for it.
Chainsaw56 on June 11, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Clearly, SouthernGal has trouble grasping the obvious.
Chainsaw56 on June 11, 2009 at 3:12 PM
They can serve their fellow Americans in a thousand other professions. Why should they choose a limited income?
You are simply naive if you believe that medicine wouldn’t experience a Brain Drain. Why do you think so many sucessful people of many professions come to the US? They come to escape oppressive taxes and wealth restrictions.
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:12 PM
You CANNOT be that stupid. You simply can’t.
In case you happen to be so clueless, let me explain it to you. If someone else has to pay for it what you are doing is ENSLAVING them. Therefore your “right” is someone else’s compelled servitude.
Our founding documents state that “all men are created equal”. So, if your so-called “right” takes away from someone else, neither one of you are equal. The whole “equal protection under the law” ceases to exist and we get dumped into a third world hell-hole where the only thing that counts is who you know or what “tribe” you are.
ElvenPhoenix on June 11, 2009 at 3:12 PM
I’m sorry, but going through the schooling and training that doctors go through, then saving people’s lives, that’s enough right there. That’s not greed.
One single doctor saves more lives and does more good, then every politician in Congress and every lawyer in the industry, combined.
Few people are going to study hard for years, work under incredibly demanding and stressful situations, only to see their families live like paupers.
You are incredibly naive and really have no idea what the real world is about. Perhaps you should run for President on the Democrat ticket, you seem well qualified for that at least.
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 3:13 PM
SG is typical of the Utopian Left. They have no idea how things work. They just want things to work, so they assume they will.
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:14 PM
SouthernGal, I am only going to respond to you this one time. You are a full on SOCIALIST and an idiot. You should be ashamed of yourself.
kahall on June 11, 2009 at 3:14 PM
So?
Reform is just that…..means change.
We need major reform.
AnninCA on June 11, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Cry about it.
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 3:15 PM
This is the problem with the Statists, they think that somehow they have a right to Your labor and Your time and Your money.
What gives them this right?
Chainsaw56 on June 11, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Hahahaha.
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 3:17 PM
I shall play the tiniest violin for the poor widdle doctors who have to take a pay cut.
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Reading through the comments, it appears Obama’s plan is already working…getting the public to start demonizing and hating on physicians just like they did to Wall St. execs, insurance companies, virtually any enterprise that exists to make profits.
Don’t fall for it! The enemy is not the docs, it is this administration that wants to enfeeble your ability to make choices in your life and make you utterly dependent on government.
Puddleglum on June 11, 2009 at 3:19 PM
This completely simplistic view misses the point. The AMA has supported universal health care for a long time, and both Obama and Hillary made it clear that it would be a top priority for them. While McCain offered his own plan, I think most observers would agree that it was not a top priority and would have probably gotten the same attention that Bush gave his own health care reform ideas that he touted before 2004 (that is, none).
The fact that the AMA opposes the particular plan that Obama is now putting forward does not mean that they do not prefer his plan to no plan (which is what they probably would have gotten with McCain), or that they think they have enough influence to guide Obama’s plan to be exactly what they want, which is a reasonable belief.
tneloms on June 11, 2009 at 3:19 PM
Exactly. They want to live in a commune where everyone works for the benefit of everyone else for free or barter, they can do that in America. No one is stopping them.
But that’s not enough for them. They want to force the rest of us to live as they believe we should live. In a way that the rest of us know WILL NOT WORK. Their way only spreads around misery to everyone, except those who rule.
It’s tyranny and it’s done in the name of “compassion”.
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 3:19 PM
And send them to the work fields for re-education if they refuse to serve.
pedestrian on June 11, 2009 at 3:19 PM
It’s good to know that under the Democrats, lawyers will never have to take a pay cut.
Why is that exactly, SouthernGal. Is justice “affordable” when you have to pay $300 an hour for a decent lawyer?
Is it not “our right” to have decent representation before the justice system.
If so, why are Democrats not railing against “greed lawyers” and plotting to “reform” our justice system?
NoDonkey on June 11, 2009 at 3:22 PM
If this socialist health care plan passes here is what I am going to do. I will work to ban exercise of any kind. You might get injured and affect the cost of everyone’s insurance. In fact I will be in favor on everyone staying at home as to not hurt themselves. No tennis, no racquetball, no ballet classes for the little ones, no gym memberships nothing shall be allowed that might injure.
kahall on June 11, 2009 at 3:22 PM
You’ll be crying a river when Sanjay is slicing into your body because he’s “always wanted to do surgery in America.”
Naive… I’m guessing 14 y.o… 15 tops.
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:22 PM
Meh. The AMA are among the most despicable, disgusting, socialism lovers on Earth. They can be bought off for nearly nothing. Don’t bet on the AMA to help anything.
progressoverpeace on June 11, 2009 at 3:23 PM
That might seem like a nice goal, but the reality is that it’s not going to happen. As other commenters have noted, if you start curtailing compensation for doctors, you’ll have fewer and less qualified doctors. You can’t force people to not be greedy. The best you can do is use their greed to achieve good results, which is what capitalism (along with certain regulation and incentive programs) does very well.
tneloms on June 11, 2009 at 3:23 PM
LMAO
SouthernGal on June 11, 2009 at 3:24 PM
The Left’s entire appeal is based on greed.
They demonize the “rich” and appeal to the greed of those with less.
mankai on June 11, 2009 at 3:25 PM
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