If the AMA had done its job of representing its constituents, the American people and Congress would have known what doctors really thought about ObamaCare before the final vote was taken. Instead, the “people and doctors of America have been betrayed by self-serving medical leaders,” states Adam Frederic Dorin, M.D., a San Diego anesthesiologist and founder of PhysiciansAgainstObamacare.org.

From its coveted “place at the table,” the AMA “stakeholder” was most interested in defending its own status and its share of the takings expected from the “transformational change.” Continue reading →

By Alieta Eck, MD

In the recent AMNews, June 7, 2010, pp 6-7, we physicians were given talking points on how to tell our patients about ObamaCare.  It was so full of “happy-speak” that one must wonder if the AMA has paid lobbyists for the Administration.

A typical question might be, “What’s in it for me?”   We are to say “For many patients who don’t have coverage and can’t afford it, the government in 2014 will offer sliding scale credits to buy a plan… Employers also are going to be expected to step up to the plate, offering coverage or kicking in part of the premium for employees who sign up for plans through the insurance exchanges.”  

Of course, that is assuming that our patients still have jobs.  But we must not say that. Continue reading →

Now that the AMA has clearly sold out doctors on ObamaCare, people are beginning to ask just what this stakeholder has at stake.

Hal Scherz, M.D., pediatric urologist in Atlanta, writes about the AMA’s lucrative monopoly on the CPT (current procedural terminology) codes that are required by Medicare and many other insurers in the May 7 Wall Street Journal.

AAPS brought up this contract at the AMA’s Fly-In on proposed E&M documentation guidelines, as noted in the July/August 1998 issue of our journal, then titled The Medical Sentinel.

In 2001, AAPS highlighted Sen. Trent Lott’s challenge to that monopoly:  http://www.aapsonline.org/press/nraapslott.htm

With such a clear conflict of interest, how can the AMA represent physicians’ interests?

AMA Doesn’t Speak for Most Doctors
by  Dr. Lee Hieb
01/05/2010

The Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune explains why the AMA may be supporting Washington’s takeover of medical care in the United States despite the uproar of physicians and patients.   

“As Democrats tout the American Medical Association’s endorsement of their health care overhaul, critics are pointing to their studious sidestepping of a little-known monopoly (on medical billing codes) that sends millions into the trade group’s coffers each year, saying it’s no surprise the Democrats were able to gain the AMA’s support.” Continue reading →