The AMA. A neutered advocacy group.

[Moses]

Every year a few more good doctors pack up and leave the SF Bay Area. The cost of running a medical practice are staggering. Congress has exempted HMO's from anti-trust laws and they flex their new power effectively.

There is a new law in California that requires a physician to accept HMO payment rates when he treats a patient even if he has chosen NOT to sign a contract with the HMO because of their low rates. Sound incredible? Sound Illegal? Well, help is on the way!

The AMA, which is supposed to be a physician advocacy group has taken no position on the HMO anti-trust exemption or the new forced labor law. Instead, they are spending their members money pressuring Congress to ban trans fatty acids from restaurant menus! Unbelievable.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081111/hl_nm/us_doctors_fats

[Tobra]

What law is that and what Democrat wrote it?

I guess it is better than the no doc freebies I get out of the ER.

Free healthcare is a constitutional right of ever citizen and illegal alien in this country, and all doctors are rich as Midas, so it must be okay. I had one outfit called Multiplan that was demanding a percentage of what I got from certain managed care plans because of a contract Multiplan had with the managed care plan that I had never heard of. They gave up when I wrote them a letter pointing out that it was illegal, but maybe now it would not be, nice.

I like trans fats, they make things tasty

[Taz's Master]

Form a union and hire superman.

Actually don't be the driving force behind a union attempt, those HMO's don't play nice.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by Taz's Master

Form a union and hire superman.

Actually don't be the driving force behind a union attempt, those HMO's don't play nice.

We are specifically forbidden by law to unionize.

[charlesbahn]

I got rid of Idearc and the yellow pages, I think the AMA may be the next expense I'm going to cut. JAMA is about the only benefit I see from them, other than a thousand letters a month for "special rates" on insurance, and frankly, the New England Journal is much better and more worth the $ than JAMA.

Just my .02.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by charlesbahn

I got rid of Idearc and the yellow pages, I think the AMA may be the next expense I'm going to cut. JAMA is about the only benefit I see from them, other than a thousand letters a month for "special rates" on insurance, and frankly, the New England Journal is much better and more worth the $ than JAMA.

Just my .02.

I quit the AMA years ago when it became clear that they were actively working against my interests. I really wish I could drop my membership in my professional organization. They are equally inept, but I've got to keep writing big checks if I want to continue to be board certified.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Moses

We are specifically forbidden by law to unionize.

Obama, being a staunch union supporting Democrat, will almost certainly fix that for you. I can't see him supporting the big, evil, profiteering HMO's. That would be too... too... Republican of him.

Oh, but wait - these HMO's provide mediacl services for the welfare rats, er I mean "disenfranchised" that he also supports. What's a President elect to do?

I know- he will continue to support the big evil HMO's and their monopolistic profiteering, because so much of their "big money" was behind him. He will also continue to support all the lazy bast - er, I mean "disadvantaged" who are clamoring for "affordable health care". How can he do both? By what miracle will he accomplish this?

Seems you are already getting a sneak preview, Moses, thanks to a Democratic assembly in California leading the way. I can't wait 'till the rest of us get to play, too...