Bad Medicine

Oh this ticks me off! The American Medical Association has come out against healthcare reform, primarily because of opposition to a public health care plan. One of the major reasons for that opposition is the contention that "the corresponding surge in public plan participation would likely lead to an explosion in costs that would need to be absorbed by taxpayers."

Right. Because our current system, in which there are 40 million Americans without health insurance, leading to a focus on emergency medicine rather than preventative medicine, is really cost effective.

Or is it that the AMA is worried about the effect of having someone who calls for evidence-based medicine holding the purse strings for medicine? What would happen to billing for the "machines that go ping" if the guys writing the check said they wouldn't pay for them because they do not improve outcome?

Whose health is the AMA more concerned with: the health of the average American, or the health of their members' bank accounts?