Barack Obama is scheduled to speak Monday to the American Medical Association. Right out of the box, the AMA has issued a pre-emptive press release, of sorts, for the Commander-in-Chief: they want no part in a public option for healthcare access.

[T]he 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. [..] If private insurers are pushed out of the market [..] the corresponding surge in public plan participation would likely lead to an explosion of costs that would need to be absorbed by taxpayers

The organization appears to be making these statements as a lobbying organ, as it does not represent all doctors. (Believe it or not, the AMA was one of the earliest and fiercest opponents of Medicare.) To be sure, many healthcare providers believe completely the opposite. Obama will have to steer discussion toward those points with which the AMA agrees vis-à-vis reforming the current government-financed plans — starting with, for example, wasteful payments to MA plans. | LINK

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