Bob McCarty Writes

It came as no surprise to learn this morning that the American Medical Association announced its support for concurrent passage of two health care reform bills in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Sadly, the once-respected organization of physicians now joins the ranks of the misguided AARP (See “Despite Early Denials, AARP Endorsing ObamaCare”).

Forty-eight years ago, the group opposed socialized medicine and used Ronald Reagan as a spokesperson to share that view with Americans.

In a news release today, they issued the following statements about legislation many fear will place government in control of the nation’s health care system — one-seventh of the nation’s economy:

“The time to make health system reform a reality is now,” said J. James Rohack, AMA president. “These two bills were introduced together, and they need to be passed together. Both are essential to achieving meaningful health system reform this year.”

“On balance, H.R. 3962, The Affordable Health Care for America Act, is consistent with our principles of pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of physician practice and universal access. It will significantly expand health insurance coverage to Americans to empower patient and physician decision making; institute meaningful insurance market reforms; make substantial investments in quality; institute prevention and wellness initiatives; provide incentives to states that adopt certificate of merit and/or early offer liability reforms, and reduce administrative burdens.”

“H.R. 3962 is not the perfect bill, and we will continue to advocate for changes, but it goes a long way toward expanding access to high-quality affordable health coverage for all Americans, and it would make the system better for patients and physicians,” Dr. Rohack said. “This is not the last step but the next step toward health system reform. We will remain actively engaged with patients, physicians, Congress and the administration to ensure that the final bill results in marked improvements to our health system.”

What AMA officials — and President Barack Obama — conveniently omit from today’s discussion of health care is the fact that doctors from all 50 states rallied against government-run health care two months ago, that other physician groups adamantly oppose ObamaCare and that some 45 percent of physicians say they will quit the profession if ObamaCare becomes law, according to an Investors Business Daily report Sept. 15.