Doctors for/against health care reform. Whatever.

by Allen Kolmes

Has it escaped notice by the media that one of the interest groups most likely to be affected by healthcare reform--doctors--is among the least monolithic?

One would think that, as a doctor, I would have my finger on the pulse of physician opinion. Sadly, all I can offer is the perspective of the proverbial blind man touching an elephant.
Five years ago I had the misfortune of sitting at a my old hospital's Medical Executive Committee meeting the day after the 2004 election. The hospital was a religious institution. The chief of staff, who was chairing the meeting, announced his excitement at Bush's reelection--and, and, what was really cool was that the evangelicals were the keys to his election.

It was all I could do to keep from channeling my inner Joe Wilson. But keep quiet I did, like the liberal pussy that I am. And I am still working through that with my therapist.

By contrast, at my current hospital in the heart of Henry Waxman's district, I am tempted to buy a Hummer just so I don't have to spend ten minutes at the end of the day figuring out which Prius is mine.

The AMA, the single largest physician's organization, represents a whopping 29% of American doctors. The AMA's position on health care is hard to label. I would arbitrarily describe it as just-right-of-center. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/363/ehi1012.pdf
Actually, I would recommend that Republican politicians memorize this document in the unlikely event that they are ever asked what exactly they are in favor of in the health care debate.

So, for every Chief of Medical Staff who believes that Jesus helped W get reelected, there is me at a town hall meeting trying to outshout all the Sarah Palin fans. We probably neutralize each other. Which means that the IQ-under-70 conservatives, whom Glenn Beck has successfully mobilized, will be more influential in the fate of health care reform than doctors will be.

BTW, what set me off writing this was reading the following on Slate:

"Somebody forgot to tell doctors how terribly unpopular the public option is. Sixty-three percent of them support it, according to a new survey conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, even though one of its chief purposes would be to pay doctors less. "

Which, BTW number 2, leads me to add something--I have a lot of respect for my peeps. Most doctors really want to do the right thing. We just need to work very hard on figuring out what that is.

Update: the day after I posted this it was on the front page that the AMA had come out in favor of health care reform as currently proposed. The price--a promise to freeze Medicare reimbursement levels in return for support. Per the Times, less than Pharma had to concede!
Go lobbyists for my profession!!