Sure, you always get a few bad apples like that cabal that followed Mark Kirk around during the summer of '08. They are in medicine for the money and want to end your ability to sue a medical provider if injured.
The AMA was also against health care reform of any kind until Obama nudged it to support his plan. However, that information standing alone is misleading because the AMA doesn't really represent your family physician. The AMA is more about insurance diagnostic coding than medicine. The group makes millions from its copyright on the medical codes used for Medicare and private insurance reimbursement. The group even issues an anual National Insurers Report Card that grades accuracy and timeliness in medical coding. Further, fewer than 29% of doctors were members of the AMA according to its own 2008 annual report.
When asked, more and more real docs, the kind that work with patients and not patient codes, want a national health care plan--known as single-payer or Medicare E, Medicare for all. A recent survey shows that more than half favor such a plan. The survey of more than 2000 doctors came up with 59% favoring single-payer. That is up from 49% from 2002. Docs know that things have gotten worse and individually complained about higher deductibles and co-payments and insurance company restrictions on patient care.
That survey seems to agree with what Vermont is seeing in its quest for a single-payer system. If Vermont ultimately passes the pending legislation to create its system, many primary care physicians have pledged to move there. This includes doctors from California, Oregon, and Washington state, Hawaii , so it's clear they're not seeking to move to Vermont for the weather. Medical students are also more interested in starting their careers in Vermont.
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