Today, 17 state and national medical societies, representing 92,000 physicians, including 3 past presidents of the American Medical Association, sent a letter to Senator Reid opposing the Senate Democrats’ plan for government-takeover of health care.  This news follows on the heels of hundreds of thousands of physicians who have also publicly opposed the Senate bill.

Specifically, these physicians detail numerous problems with the Senate Democrats’ bill:

• The bill undermines the patient-doctor relationship, placing the federal government between Americans and their health care.
• The package is financially irresponsible, expanding Medicaid and shifting millions in new costs to cash-strapped states, delaying coverage and front-loading taxes and fees on Americans.
• The government-run health insurance will lead to single-payer, government only health insurance for all.
• The new unelected government medical boards may arbitrarily reduce payments for needed medical care, delaying or denying care to Americans.
• The bill does not provide medical liability reform, and rather than reducing Americans’ premiums by $54 billion, as the Congressional Budget Office has advised, the bill continues the ability of trial lawyers to siphon billions from the health care system.

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