Despite a lofty reputation and purported commitment to universal coverage, AMA has fought almost every major effort at health care reform of the past 70 years. The group’s reputation on this matter is so notorious that historians pinpoint it with creating the ominous sounding phrase “socialized medicine” in the early decades of the 1900s.
In keeping with its long history of successfully opposing health care reform, the American Medical Association (AMA) is, surprise, doing it again. Anticipating the challenge presented by the lobbying clout of the AMA, President Obama will be taking the unusual step of directly addressing the organization’s annual meeting next week.
For a more constructive approach than the AMA’s to the reform process, check out a recent AJN editorial on some nurse-led solutions to improving care and reducing costs that should be part of any reform plan: “nurses can help to build the infrastructure we’ll need if we’re to shift from an emphasis on acute care to one on health promotion, chronic care management, and primary care . . . . ”
Jacob Molyneux, senior editor
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