AMA looking to support health care reform that meets both physician and patient needs, AMA president says

SAN FRANCISCO — American Medical Association officials have been working with President Barack Obama to create health care reform that meets the AMA goal of all Americans receiving affordable, high quality medical care that does not penalize physicians.

"I was privileged to be at the head of the table with President Obama, along with his team, as well representatives of the private sector when we said, what would physicians do?" James Rohack, MD, president of the American Medical Association, said at the joint meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology.

While conceding a need to reduce "high cost, high dollar procedures," Dr. Rohack said that without medical liability protection there is no incentive to stop ordering additional and sometimes superfluous tests. He said alternative plans need to be investigated because of issues with Medicare.

"We know that a public option, a public plan, a pooling with Medicare rates isn't going to work. Medicare is already broken. We also know that it's got to have choice and we have to (have) voluntary participation," he said.