Physicians/ Surgeons Divided on Proposed Bill

The American Medical Association has offered qualified support for the Senate health care bill this week, however many other medical groups are unqualified in their opposition. A coalition representing 240,000 physician specialists, like the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, said it "must oppose the bill as currently written" for several reasons including: the establishment of a Medicare advisory board with the authority to set reimbursement policy; increased reporting on physician errors and outcomes; an excise tax on elective cosmetic surgery; and measures that might increase payments to primary-care doctors at the expense of specialists.

The California Medical Association, which represents 35,000 physicians, also declared this week that it opposed the current Senate legislation, joining counterparts in Texas and Florida that took stands in late November.

Read the full article in The New York Times, or click here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/health/policy/h04medicine.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y