The AMA is not on our side, at least according to what they sent to the Senate:
But in comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association said: “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.” … The medical association said it “cannot support any plan design that mandates physician participation.” For one thing, it said, “many physicians and providers may not have the capability to accept the influx of new patients that could result from such a mandate.” …
The portion in bold is stunning coming from the American Medical Association.
Now, I’m not a health care expert. Talking about Pakistan, Iran, and the Middle East comes easier to me. But it doesn’t take an expert to understand that without the public option plan we’re never going to get this done.
Republicans are scared witless about the public option, but the reason is political:
Republicans fear that the public option would work, and therefore undermine their broader arguments about the evil of government and the perfection of the market (and make voters thankful to Democrats to boot).
Mike Lux, who was in the Clinton administration (also aided the Obama transition team), said it so perfectly recently, when talking about how determined we are to get health care passed:
So here’s the point I made to CNN: Obama is doing a great job of including the insurance companies and their stalwart Republican defenders in the discussions, welcoming their ideas, etc. But this bill does not need to be bipartisan, and if the Republicans want to insist that the insurance industry gets what they want, we can do this without them. We will need 83% of the Democrats in the Senate, and 85% in the House, and an effective, popular president can get that done.
And to those who worship at the alter of bipartisanship, who say we need a bipartisan bill for something to be “sustainable,” I would suggest you check your history books: many of the greatest reforms in our nation’s history — including ending slavery and most of the great New Deal reforms — came without much or any bipartisanship. So, look, if you Republicans want to stop carrying water for an insurance industry desperate to avoid legitimate competition from a public plan, you are welcome to the table, come on aboard. But if not — as I said to CNN — we will just roll you and muscle this one home.
Exactly.
Obama speaks in front of the AMA on Monday in Chicago.
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