Originally published October 4 2011
AMA losing members in droves, less than 20 percent of US doctors support its agenda
by Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) The significance and credibility of the American Medical Association (AMA), an organization that allegedly backs physician interests and the promotion of public health, is quickly deteriorating. It is a fact that a mere 17 percent of US doctors are even members in the group anymore. Droves of current AMA members are now resigning, because of the group's open support for "Obamacare."
According to a recent Forbes report, nearly half of the doctors that have cancelled their AMA memberships in recent days say they did so primarily because of the group's support for the Obama administration's universal health care plan. And 87 percent of the AMA's remaining member physicians say they are against the health care bill as well, according to data gathered by physician recruitment firm Jackson & Coker.
Patients with private health coverage are naturally better for private practices because they allow doctors to provide higher quality and more personal care to patients. Patients with public coverage in the form of Medicare and Medicaid, on the other hand, often end up costing doctors more than the amount they receive back in reimbursements, which is why many are no longer even willing to accept public coverage patients at all.
Statistics indicate that doctors earn an average of $260 per hourly visit with privately-insured patients. On the flip side, patients covered by Medicaid only generate an average of about $20 per hourly visit, which is hardly enough to sustain a viable practice. This is why the addition of millions of new patients on government coverage via Obamacare stands to destroy the private practices of thousands, if not millions, of American doctors.
What this all means for the AMA, of course, is that the organization will continue to plunge into the depths of irrelevance, at least as far as the nation's physicians are concerned. The AMA had been losing members for many years prior to the unveiling of Obamacare -- but since the time that the bill hit the scene and received AMA support, the AMA's membership cancellation rate has only accelerated.
Meanwhile, groups like Docs4PatientCare and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), both of which stand against the government takeover of health care, have seen increases in their membership bases.
Sources for this story include:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypipes/2011/...
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