Debate Over Public Health Insurance Rages On

Debate Over Public Health Insurance Rages On in Politics and Legislation

Things are heating up over the proposed government-run health insurance plans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has rejected a Senate proposal to substitute government-run insurance plans with privately run health care cooperatives, reported The Hill.

The day before, in a visit to Green Bay, Wisconsin, President Obama was greeted by demonstrators who denounced his health care reform as socialism. In response, his speech stressed that he wasn’t endorsing nationalized health care.

Indeed, while some of the details have yet to be delineated, it’s clear that suggested reforms would allow people to stay with their private health insurance providers. Also, the public plan wouldn’t be subsidized, so it would compete fairly with private plans.

So, what’s the trouble?

Groups like the American Medical Association fear that the availability of a public plan would inevitably lead to a single-payer health care system with the government coming out on top. Simply put, they don’t want Uncle Sam in their business.

But they may not have the bite or bark to be a real obstacle.

They now barely represent one-fourth of the nation’s physicians. And an independent study of U.S. doctors published in Annals of Internal Medicine last year revealed broad support for government-sponsored health insurance. Almost 60 percent supported some form of national health insurance.

Decades ago, the AMA fought bitterly against the formation of Medicare, but had to succumb to overwhelming public support of the program. Today, public sentiment has grown so loudly in favor of health care reform that they are already tempering their stance.

However, they remain the country’s largest, most visible group of doctors. And they still expend vast amounts of money to shape national health policy. This Monday, President Obama is scheduled to address the AMA’s annual meeting in Chicago. It should be interesting to see how the organization receives the president’s message.

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