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News & Views October 22, 2009
“They were there because the White House wanted to show how serious they were and to give their stamp of approval,” said the source. Reid also asked that doctors ease up on demands for medical malpractice reform during the upcoming healthcare debate. Democrats have traditionally resisted calls for tort reform, which trial attorneys — a reliable base group — staunchly oppose. But the primary focus of the meeting was on Democratic plans to bring to the Senate floor a standalone bill costing nearly $250 billion that would freeze cuts in doctors’ payments mandated by a 1997 law. Without the freeze, doctors would see their Medicare payments drop by 21 percent next year and by 40 percent by 2016. The bill’s costs are not offset by tax increases or spending cuts at a time when the Obama administration estimates the federal deficit at $1.4 trillion.
Healthcare policy experts say that organized opposition from doctors, whom Americans consistently rank as highly trustworthy in public opinion polls, could derail efforts to overhaul the nation’s health system. “What’s really important is that doctors are not vocally in opposition,” said Henry Aaron, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who specializes in healthcare financing. “If they mobilize strongly in opposition and ran ads and talked to their patients, it hurts. It would be a serious obstacle. As long as they’re not out fighting, I think the administration has achieved most of the gain.” Full story.
CMDA CEO David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics):"It is likely your professional group was represented in this attempt at intimidation and bribery. The representatives attending included ones from the AMA, the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, the American Osteopathic Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"Senator Reid did not waste anytime which makes you wonder what was agreed to by some of the organizations after the meeting. He moved a $247 billion dollar 'doctor fix' package to the Senate floor within a few days. Senators in his own party balked because there was no increased income through taxes or spending cuts to offset the cost. They feared adding to our already skyrocketing deficit that is so great that other nations are proposing moving away from the dollar as the world’s currency.
"The bill did not pass.
"News reports state though that the 'Democrats may not need to go any further than proposing a fix… The mere fact of trying to pass a 10-year freeze may help Democrats earn the allegiance of some doctor’s groups…'
"It is tragic that our professional groups are acting unprofessional. A professional covenants to do what is best for their patient, not for themselves, even if it costs them something. Professionalism is the foundation of doctor-patient trust.
"The publicity of these backroom dealings has been a public relations boondoggle. Not only have these organizations damaged their reputation with their members who value Hippocratic medicine but they have sullied all doctors reputations in the eye of the public.
"To add insult to injury, when all is said and done, they may have traded our birthright as professionals and didn’t even get a mess of pottage."
CMDA News Release: CMA Doctors: Sen. Harry Reid’s
“We’ll Put Up If you Shut Up” Deal Won’t Sway
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