DJP Update 3-9-2010 AMA & The Final Vote in Congress on Health System Reform; Background info DJPNEWS on Twitter
ITEM ONE: AMA & The Final Vote in Congress on Health System Reform
Tick Tock, Tick Tock; Time is of the essence. The advocates in the Administration and in Congress are having closed door meetings to try and get a majority vote in the House to pass the Senate bill. The moment the necessary number of votes are in favor there will be an immediate vote. As of this moment, there are not enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass the Senate bill. But lots going on behind the scenes. Remember the revelations when the Senate bill was passed as the public read the fine print of the 2700 page disaster in the details bill that emerged. Can’t get the book “Animal Farm” out of my mind when I review the actions of Congress: some are more equal than others.
Now our AMA. AMA has been silent of late as to AMA position of the vote about to be taken in the House of Representatives. AMA was not at the last President Obama press conference on stage with the other stage doctors and I did not see a representative of AMA in the audience of white coats.
It is time for AMA to state to the public and send a letter to Congress that AMA opposes the Senate bill. Do a clear and unequivocal press release that states opposition. All along AMA kept saying it is working to get changes in the bills. Well, the changes did not come.
One of many examples of items AMA opposed in the Senate bill. Still in the bill!
Independent Medicare Advisory Board
AMA policy specifically opposes any provision that would empower an independent commission to mandate payment cuts for physicians, who are already subject to an expenditure target and other potential payment reductions under the Medicare physician payment system. Therefore, we oppose the Independent Medicare Advisory Board as currently designed in H.R. 3590, and we look forward to working with you on significant changes to the proposal.
( This except above from AMA: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/health-system-reform/news/december-2009/ama-comments-hr-3590.shtml )
The better fix for payment is for AMA to boldly state no price-fixing by government! Let government decide what it can pay and let doctors and patients negotiate the rest. I am tired of people saying doctors can’t be trusted!
Time to enter the arena, AMA! Reread Shakespeare’s Henry V speech on St. Crispian’s Day:
————
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
————
Time for AMA to enter the field of battle. Doctors are looking for warriors to save the patient-physician relationship and the Senate bill will not decrease cost, will not increase quality, and will give a false sense of access: an insurance card that has no doctor on the other end to do the treatment. In addition, the funny math will bankrupt this Country. Let this bill fail and put forth a bill that truly addresses the current problems. Allow health insurance purchase across state lines, get real proven medical liability reform and put some penalty on those attorneys who file suits without merit, use tax credits, convert Medicaid that currently is bankrupting states into a defined contribution, allow private contracting without penalty, and more: FOLLOW SPECIFIC AMA POLICY!
It is tough trying to convince members not to quit AMA. Give us some help, AMA!
ITEM TWO: Go to http://twitter.com/djpNEWS to see recent postings on the funny math Congress is using.
Especially see: DJPNEWS: Importance of analysis! RT @bridgettwagner How government lies about cost ’savings’ | Kyle Wingfield: http://bit.ly/bo7ix7
Stay well and a special welcome to the orthopedic surgeons in New Orleans for their annual meeting! Stop by the National WWII Museum here for a powerful reminder of the cost of Liberty.
http://www.aaos.org/education/anmeet/anmeet.asp
Donald
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Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD
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