AOA position on healthcare reform?

[combatwombat]

Is anyone familiar with the AOA's stance on healthcare reform, and how it is/is not different from that of the AMA? Given the higher proportion of DO's who go into primary care & work in underserved areas, you'd think that there would at least be some minor differences.

Don't mean to kick off a political discussion of what their position should be, just wondering what it is.

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[JaggerPlate]

They supported it like the AMA did. I have a feeling that a permanent doc fix will be coming down the pipe, and that is why the big organizations (not that the AOA is as big as the AMA) jumped aboard. Obviously the fact that the bill gives power to midlevels, makes it illegal for physicians to own and invest in hospitals, ETC, makes one scratch their head as to why??

 

[combatwombat]

Now that the healthcare bill has been passed, it's easy to simply say someone was for it or against it. What I was really wondering was more along the lines of where the AOA stands politically in relation to the AMA. Was the AOA more or less favorable to public health insurance? Would they rather have seen greater incentives for PCPs in the bill? I find it hard to believe that the AOA and the AMA could be on exactly the same page when it comes to the country's healthcare system.

 

[jason3278]

Is anyone familiar with the AOA's stance on healthcare reform, and how it is/is not different from that of the AMA? Given the higher proportion of DO's who go into primary care & work in underserved areas, you'd think that there would at least be some minor differences.

Don't mean to kick off a political discussion of what their position should be, just wondering what it is.

The AOA's position on anything generally equals the AMA's position, with the word "osteopathic" thrown in a few dozen times.

 

[JonnyG]

They worked together and pretty much had the exact same platform. The AMA was invited to the healthcare summit and not the AOA so they relied on them to voice their opinion.

The physician payment fix was not in the final bill because it would have raised the price tag. There were alot of things left out of the bill for that reason. There were even admissions that they will have to raise the reimbursement of medicare or no one will take it.

 

[TeamZissou]

Well... I hope for all our sakes they do that.

Bc my tuition is $50K next year...

 

[combatwombat]

Has the AOA always been on the same page as the AMA politically? Did they also vote against the equal rights amendment, or against divestment from tobacco companies when cigarettes were proven to cause cancer?