Texas Medical Association balks at backing Obama healthcare plan, despite AMA endorsement

[babylonsister]

Texas Medical Association balks at backing Obama healthcare plan, despite AMA endorsement
By DIANNA HUNT


The Texas Medical Association — the nation’s largest state medical society — is among more than a dozen state associations breaking ranks with the American Medical Association’s endorsement of the healthcare overhaul proposal in the U.S. House.

TMA President Dr. William Fleming said the association’s actions do not constitute a split with the national association but rather a decision by Texas physicians to make up their own minds about whether to endorse the legislation being debated in Congress.

"There are about 17 state societies that have backed off, who have not jumped on the bandwagon with the AMA," Fleming said Monday. "Texas does not oppose the bill, but we cannot endorse it fully at this time. There are some concerns we have at this time."

Fleming, a Houston-area neurologist, said the Texas association has a task force poring over the 1,000-page bill to make its own evaluation of the proposal.

Voicing concerns

The Texas group sent a letter late last week to the House’s Texas delegation citing key concerns about the legislation. Among them are failure to fix Medicare funding formulas, the "long-term consequences" of the government’s plan to offer a public insurance option and a prohibition on physician ownership of healthcare facilities.

The letter also cites a failure to include caps for medical liability, which the Texas Legislature approved in 2003. The letter is signed by Fleming, Dr. Nancy Dickey, chairwoman of the association’s health reform task force, and Dr. Susan Rudd Bailey, a Fort Worth allergist who is president-elect of the TMA.

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http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1496890.html

[kjackson227]

1. I'm not surprised.