The Public Plan option is a poisonous apple and physicians aren’t biting.
In a statement submitted to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association soundly rejects the notion of a new public plan.
Here is an excerpt from the statement: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to expand health insurance coverage and lower costs. The introduction of a new public plan threatens to restrict patient choice by driving out private insurers, which currently provide coverage for nearly 70 percent of Americans.”
This announcement by the AMA comes a week following a letter President Obama sent to Senators Kennedy and Baucus in which he reaffirmed his support for the creation of a new public plan.
Lawmakers have been pledging that a new public plan would pay physicians reimbursements rates higher than that of Medicare.
Alas, physicians are not as gullible as politicians seem to think. Doctors are not going to enter into an agreement whereby they reap transitory benefits but face long-term pain.
Initially, the federal government would likely honor its promise of higher reimbursement rates. But with millions more of Americans under a government plan, budget realities would take precedence over grandiose political promises.
Initially, the federal government would likely honor its promise of higher reimbursement rates. But with millions more of Americans under a government plan, budget realities would take precedence over grandiose political promises.
Physicians know this – and that is why the AMA opposes a new public plan.
It would be nice if the AMA spoke out against greater government control over physicians on a more regular basis. But this recent announcement is more than welcome – and long overdue.
