Contact: Kathryn Serkes (202) 333-3855

FOR RELEASE APRIL 15, 2000:

Supporters of government-controlled health care make no bones about it -- they say health care is a "right," and call it "universal access to health care." We call it socialism -- government rationing of medical care, which is neither necessary nor acceptable to Americans.

They cite surveys saying people support "universal health care for all,." But what they fail to tell voters are the real costs in increased taxes, the increased insurance premiums and the inevitable state-mandated rationing of care. The poor will be hit the hardest.

Physicians for a National Health Plan claim that health care is a "right," and true to their socialist leanings, point to Canada's socialized medicine as a model for the U.S.

But a recent report by the Fraser Institute in Vancouver, B.C., states "Canada's government-run health care system is in crisis: over-burdened, forced to ration care and unable to shake off a strait- jacket of centralized bureaucratic planning." Emergency rooms are closing, and the rate of uninsured people with no coverage is approaching the rate in the U.S.

Canadians are waking up to the truth about socialized medicine. A 1999 poll found that 76% now believe the health care system is in crisis. "The way things stand, Canada's boast should be that everyone is entitled to the same lousy health care," says Martin Zelder, director of health policy for the Fraser Institute.

AAPS members believe this patient-physician relationship must be free from all third-party interference -- whether from the government, insurance companies, or healthcare plans. We believe patients' ability to choose their physicians and care that's best for their needs is inviolable.

Restrictive government policies, state insurance mandates and an inequitable tax code favoring employer-based medical care have devastated our ability to practice medicine and our patients freedom to choose their course of treatment.

As long as the government, insurance companies and other third parties are paying most of the bills, medical costs will continue to soar. Americans should be responsible consumers of medical care, free to shop for services in a competitive marketplace. AAPS believes the government should stay out of the examining room, or we'll see long waiting lines and government bureaucrats rationing care - deciding who lives and who dies.