Obama urges doctors to back health care plan proposal

CHICAGO -- President Obama faces a skeptical audience Monday when he speaks to the American Medical Association about his proposal to create a government-run health plan to cut costs and increase competition.

The AMA does not support the proposal, and some of its members said it could make the nation's health care system worse.

"Physicians are burdened right now with a lot of rules and regulations in dealing with patients where their reimbursement is subsidized by the federal government, and I guess we're not very confident that the government's going to be able to take over the whole system and do any better," said J. Gregory Cooper, a family doctor in Cynthiana, Ky.

It's clear that the current system is flawed, said Jerry Halverson, a psychiatrist from Madison, Wis., but "whether it needs a complete reboot is a different question."

"There's a lot of concern" about the federal government managing health care, he said. "If the model is Medicare, that's not a model that's worked, and we know it's not a model that's worked," Halverson says.

Obama says the health care overhaul can't wait another year and is "the single most important thing we can do for America's long-term fiscal health," according to a speech summary e-mailed this morning by administration officials.

The summary said the president planned to discuss ways to reduce health care costs and argue that the changes will cost money in the short-term but produce savings down the line.

"He'll reiterate his proposals to generate $950 billion in revenue and savings to pay for reform," the summary said.

Obama will ask doctors to help him deal with the system's biggest problem, rising costs, the summary said.

The president plans to thank the AMA for supporting the overhaul. The summary doesn't say whether he plans to address the organization's concerns about a public insurance option, though that issue will be discussed as a way to help cover the 46 million Americans who lack coverage.

The idea is "a health insurance exchange where private plans compete with a public option that drives down costs and expands choice," the White House said. "The president will be clear about what a public option does and doesn't mean for patients, physicians and our broader health care system."

The AMA group represents 250,000 doctors and medical students.

Obama said last week that health care should be "provided through private markets, as they are currently."

In comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the AMA said that if private insurers can't compete with a government-run health plan, there could be "an explosion of costs that would need to be absorbed by taxpayers."

Some Republicans and moderate Democrats on Capitol Hill also oppose a taxpayer-sponsored insurance program.

The AMA, the nation's largest physician organization, said it supports changes in the way health care is delivered, including a requirement that individuals and families who can afford it obtain coverage.

AMA President Nancy Nielsen said in a statement that doctors want to "reduce unnecessary costs by focusing on quality improvements, such as developing best practices for care and improving medication reconciliation."

Doctors need more protection from malpractice lawsuits, she said.

Obama has made an overhaul of the health care system a top priority.

Last week, Obama said at a town hall in Green Bay, Wis., that a public insurance option is necessary "because if the private insurance companies have to compete with a public option, it will keep them honest and help keep prices down."

Vice President Biden said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press that the administration is committed to creation of a government-run plan. He said the administration could support the concept in a number of forms, including an expansion of the Medicare program.

"You've got to have some competition," Biden said.

On CBS' Face the Nation, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said health care can be improved, "but I don't think having more government — in effect, putting Washington between you and your doctor — is the way to go."

Contributing: John Fritze and David Jackson in Washington