Trumps Health Secretary Pick Leaves Nations Doctors Divided

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON — When President-elect Donald J. Trump chose Representative Tom Price of Georgia to be his health and human services secretary, the American Medical Association swiftly endorsed the selection of one of its own, an orthopedic surgeon who has championed the role of physicians throughout his legislative career.

Then the larger world of doctors and nurses weighed in on the beliefs and record of Mr. Price, a suburban Atlanta Republican — and the split among caregivers, especially doctors, quickly grew sharp.

“The A.M.A. does not speak for us,” says a petition signed by more than 5,000 doctors.

Mr. Trump and a Republican-held Congress are considering some of the biggest changes to the American health care system in generations: not only the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which is providing insurance to some 20 million people, but also the transformation of Medicare, for older Americans, and Medicaid, for low-income people. Mr. Price has favored those changes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump%e2%80%99s-health-secretary-pick-leaves-nation%e2%80%99s-doctors-divided/ar-BBxB8Uo?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp

[niyad]

1. the AMA is a lobbying organization. health care is the least of its concerns.

[hunter]

4. The number of AMA doctors who pay full dues is declining.

Without the support of the pharmaceutical industry the AMA would sooner be fading away. Many of the AMA's stated goals dovetail neatly with pharmaceutical interests.

They've got lots of students who join at steeply discounted rates and mostly don't renew when they graduate The AMA has got lots of old and retired doctors.

There are a little over 850,000 active doctors in the U.S.A. and the AMA has an estimated membership of 228,000, which was a "surge" in numbers of 216,000 in 2010, most of that growth fueled by campaigns to enroll medical professors, medical students, and medical residents who are unlikely to ever pay full dues.

[niyad]

6. that is some very interesting information indeed.

[Laffy Kat]

2. I've work around and for physicians for thirty years.

Never knew of any who were members of the National AMA. I worked for one who paid dues to a local chapter so he could be included in a membership directory given to the public. Most of my experience is with academic physician/scientists and they did not support the AMA in any way. The AMA is political and does not speak for the majority of physicians.

[Docreed2003]

3. True points...

As a physician, the AMA does not speak for me and I have not been a "member" since free membership in med-school. Many many physicians and physician groups are appalled at Price's appointment. This is a man who would love nothing more than to dismantle not only the ACA but Medicare and Medicaid as well. He also believes that the government should not regulate how physicians practice, even if those physicians are taking advantage of patients through unproven procedures or medicines. Price is a sociopath, not a true physician. He sees medicine as a business for profit rather than caring for patients needs. His ilk disgust me and it's disgusting the AMA would applauded his nomination.

[Jim Beard]

8. Paul Ryan is happy to see him on board.

[mnhtnbb]

5. My husband--who has been in practice for 40 some years--has never paid dues to the AMA

Instead, he has been an active member of Physicians for a National Health Program http://www.pnhp.org/ and Physicians for Social Responsibility
http://www.psr.org/index.html for many, many years. In fact, he was in New York in October lobbying at the UN against nuclear arms. (PSR is the US affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which was the recipient in 1985 of the Nobel Peace Prize.)

There are lots and lots of MD's who want nothing to do with the AMA.

[Jim Beard]

7. I know a bunch of seniors that currently do not know the name of Paul Ryan.

They wanted change and they got it.