Blog and News

Dr. Mark Neerhof, an executive board member of Docs4PatientCare, has a new article at Townhall.com that details how the American Medical Association's (AMA) endorsement of ObamaCare represents a conflict of interest for the AMA.

He writes: "The AMA was used by the Obama administration to garner public support for the law. The public’s perception is that all doctors belong to the AMA, and thereby, that the AMA speaks for all doctors.

Thus, if the AMA supports ObamaCare, it must be good. In fact, at the time of passage of ObamaCare, only 17% of physicians in the United States belonged to the AMA."

Dr. Neerhof then asks: "Why then did the AMA support ObamaCare? The answer is that the federal government created a monopoly for the AMA, giving it exclusive rights to publish medical billing codes. Every physician and hospital in the country must use these billing codes. This monopoly accounts for an annual income for the AMA of between 70 and 100 million dollars. That exceeds the income from membership fees. To whom is the AMA’s allegiance -- practicing physicians or Washington politicians?

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Today the Washington Times featured a story by Docs 4 Patient Care member Dr. Mark Neerhof:

"In a chapter titled 'Who, Whom?' from his classic book 'The Road to Serfdom,' F. A. Hayek warned of the universal problem of a socialist society: 'Who plans whom, who directs and dominates whom, who assigns to other people their station in life, and who is to have his due allotted by others?'

"The budget battle currently under way in Washington is about much more than money and debt. It is about who we are as a people and what we are to become. This struggle is epitomized in the discussion over Medicare..."

Read the full article here. 

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Double Deference and the House GOP’s Fair-weather Federalism

The Republican call for national tort reform, although commendible, is somewhat of a concern. If the Federal goverment can regulate malpractice, why can't it mandate ways to cover healthcare costs, like it is doing under the new healthcare law via the individual mandate? The Commerce Clause is a sword that carves out more control for the federal government and is a dangerous weapon to wield.

Constitutional scholar Randy Barnett confirmed our fears in the two above pieces on this subject. 

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