AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: MORE CONCERNED WITH POLITICS THAN POLICY

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: MORE CONCERNED WITH POLITICS THAN POLICY

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation publishes a daily report on health care issues at www.kaisernetwork.org . On February 1, Kaiser published an article on political issues from capital hill. With the tide having changed in Washington and Congress now led by Democratic majorities, it appears that the American Medical Association will not concentrate its efforts on consumer friendly issues such as expanding health coverage for the uninsured and resisting efforts to reduce Medicare payments to physicians. This does not mean that the American Medical Association will abandon its efforts the harm patients to enrich physicians by limiting the rights of consumers. Rather that effort will not target state legislatures where such limiting efforts have a chance to be enacted despite their obvious harmful effects on injured patients. Perhaps someday the AMA will focus its efforts on all of the harmful conduct of the insurance and HMO industry.