True North

The American Medical Association (AMA) has endorsed the Democrat government health bill scheduled to be voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives, but the medical community at large is far from consensus on the AMA endorsement.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) harshly criticized the AMA endorsement of the House bill. Separately, twenty surgical organizations, led by the American College of Surgeons, (ACS) sent a letter to the U.S. Senate on Wednesday stating they are prepared to oppose the Senate's health care reform bill because it will threaten patient access and harm quality.

"The AMA has sold out patients, and sold out the profession of medicine for a few dollars of Medicare money,” said Kathryn Serkes, AAPS Director of Policy and Public Affairs, in a statement on the association web site. "In July they endorsed HR 3200 and took a lot of heat and lost members in droves. With the endorsement of HR 3962, it’s now painfully clear the AMA does not represent it membership."

In the ACS letter, the surgeons stated that although they "strongly support health care reform that will expand access to quality surgical and medical care to as many Americans as possible," the current Senate legislation "fails to address some of the fundamental problems that plague the health care system," including medical liability reforms and reforms to the Medicare payment system.

The surgical groups that signed the ACS letter:

• American College of Surgeons
• American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• American Academy of Ophthalmology
• American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
• American Association of Neurological Surgeons
• American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• American College of Osteopathic Surgeons
• American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics
• American Society of Anesthesiologists
• American Society of Breast Surgeons
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
• American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons
• American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery
• American Society of Plastic Surgeons
• American Urological Association
• Congress of Neurological Surgeons
• Society for Vascular Surgery
• Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons
• Society of Gynecologic Oncologists

Cross-posted at North Star Liberty. Comments welcome there.