Relaxed Politics

I’ve seen polls that say a majority of doctors and nurses want some health care reform and this latest poll shows it. Poll Finds Most Doctors Support Public Option

When polled, “nearly three-quarters of physicians supported some form of a public option, either alone or in combination with private insurance options,” says Dr. Salomeh Keyhani. She and Dr. Alex Federman, both internists and researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, conducted a random survey, by mail and by phone, of 2,130 doctors. They surveyed them from June right up to early September.

The researchers say they found strong support for a public option among all categories of doctors. “We even saw that support being the same whether physicians lived in rural areas or metropolitan areas,” says Federman.

“Whether they lived in southern regions of the United States or traditionally liberal parts of the country,” says Keyhani, “we found that physicians, regardless — whether they were salaried or they were practice owners, regardless of whether they were specialists or primary care providers, regardless of where they lived — the support for the public option was broad and widespread.”

The survey even found widespread support for a public option among doctors who are members of the American Medical Association, a group that’s opposed to it. The AMA fears a public option eventually could lead to government putting more limits on doctors’ fees.

However, the AMA hasn’t always been there.

Back on June 11, 2009, American Medical Association Trying To Torpedo Health Care Reform Again

Just days before President Barack Obama is set to address the American Medical Association to pitch its members on his vision for health care reform, the 250,000-member physician group announced it would oppose a major component of that effort. On Wednesday night, the New York Times reported that AMA was “letting Congress know” that it would resist a public plan for health insurance coverage. Historically and philosophically, however, AMA’s opposition is hardly newsworthy. 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.

Makes you wonder if the heads of the AMA are paying any attention to their members, or if there has been this huge shift in opinion by the doctors.

On the other hand, nurses have been very pro-health care reform. The California Nurses Association, National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), the United American Nurses, and Massachusetts Nurses Association will bring together 150,000 nurses nationwide under the banner of National Nurses United. They have created a super-union. And they are pro-health care reform.

This week, 1,200 registered nurses convened in San Francisco to inaugurate an unprecedented super-union. According to the CNA’s press release, the merger of the CNA/NNOC, the United American Nurses and Massachusetts Nurses Association will bring together 150,000 nurses nationwide under the banner of National Nurses United.

The conference will focus on policy issues including the Employee Free Choice Act and single-payer healthcare, as well as the development of a broader organizing vision that will shape debates on “national and state healthcare reform, the ability of nurses to advocate more effectively to protect patients, and standards for nurses that are vital for the retention and recruitment needed to expand the [registered nurse] workforce.”

American Nurses Association President Rebecca M. Patton, RN, praised the president for advocating for people who lack access to basic healthcare services and for fighting for consumer protections in the health insurance market.

On Sept. 10, 2009, Registered nurses from all over the U.S. traveled to the White House Thursday to support President Obama after his health care speech to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night. American Nurses Association President Rebecca M. Patton, RN, praised the president for advocating for people who lack access to basic healthcare services and for fighting for consumer protections in the health insurance market. “As nurses, every day we see first-hand the heart-breaking consequences of our nation’s flawed system,” Patton said. “We see patients in danger when they can’t access or afford the care they need.”
The ANA values patient choice and believes that a public health insurance plan should be an option in healthcare reform. President Obama complimented nurses for their compassion, dedication and professionalism. “You’re the bedrock of our medical profession,” Obama said.

We need to let our doctors and nurses know that we appreciate their care for us and their caring about us. Most are in the business to heal us, and it seems they are walking the extra talk now. I hope Congress listens.

posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 8:49 pm under Current Events, Health, President Obama, Relaxed Politics, US News, US Politics.