A few days after many members of the House including the Speaker stated that there must be a public option in the health care reform bill currently up for consideration by the House and the Senate the American Medical Association issues a statement saying that it does not support any legislation that increases the role of government in the provision of health services.  The group made Congress aware that it would resist any plan that comes with a public option. The group has been in stalwart opposition against health care reform for the last 70 years.  In fact, it has been posited that it was the AMA that coined the phrase “socialized medicine.”  This recent development comes days before President Obama plans to address the group on Monday.  Some facts:  currently one out of every four Americans go without needed health care due to the high additional cost imposed by insurance companies; a public option would provide competition for the insurance companies thereby getting rid of the stranglehold that one or two insurance companies have on a particular market in many areas around the country.  Apparently for the AMA the Hippocratic oath stands for profit before patient.  See the AMA statement below.

As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system.

The opposition, which comes as Mr. Obama prepares to address the powerful doctors’ group on Monday in Chicago, could be a major hurdle for advocates of a public insurance plan. The A.M.A., with about 250,000 members, is America’s largest physician organization.

While committed to the goal of affordable health insurance for all, the association had said in a general statement of principles that health services should be “provided through private markets, as they are currently.” It is now reacting, for the first time, to specific legislative proposals being drafted by Congress.

Another statement by the AMA:

But in comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association said: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to expand health insurance coverage and lower costs. The introduction of a new public plan threatens to restrict patient choice by driving out private insurers, which currently provide coverage for nearly 70 percent of Americans.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote an op-ed addressing the dire need for reform.  Below is an excerpt from the piece but you can read it in its entirety here.

We need reform that will improve the quality of care and give doctors the best medical research to help them make the most effective, patient-centered treatment decisions, not just the most costly.

We need reform that eliminates the barriers that leave millions of Americans on the outside of the doctor’s office looking in. We must ensure Americans are not denied coverage by insurance companies because of a pre-existing medical condition, and we must provide insurance security for Americans who lose or want to switch their jobs.

Our reforms will not force patients to make changes they don’t want or need. The president has consistently said that if a family likes the coverage they have, they should keep it. With that in mind, we intend to build on — and strengthen — the existing employer-based system and lower costs for all.