The American Medical Association (AMA) has asked us to help disseminate a message from Jim Rohack FACC, President of AMA, about their support for HR 3200. As I told you last week, I think the AMA has been unfairly treated based on misinformation on their position on H.R. 3200. They are trying to eliminate the SGR. This message is aimed to clarify their reasoning. According to the AMA:

• The original bill contained a core set of high-priority provisions that the AMA has long supported;
• Bill sponsors were not likely to maintain the $230+ billion investment in Medicare physician spending if the AMA did not register support for the bill (hospitals, the home health sector, Medicare Advantage plans and pharmaceutical companies are all facing cuts in the tens and hundreds of billions of dollars); and
• As an early supporter, the AMA is well positioned to help shape revisions to this bill, as well as the final legislation that will ultimately be presented to the President.

The AMA message also points out that the organization is continuing to share its concerns with the White House and legislators about reform legislation and the pundits’ assertions that doctors are anything less than committed to doing what’s right for their patients. I think we can all get behind that message. AMA is getting beat up over it’s support of H.R. 3200. We didn’t take a full support position; but their push to get the SGR fix will be a big help to all docs if it succeeds.

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