Health Care BS

One reason the AMA climbed into bed with the Democrats on Obamacare was an implicit promise from the President and congressional leadership to permanently fix the Soviet-style price control scheme (SGR) that has long plagued physicians who treat Medicare patients.

Well, Obamacare is now the law of the land, and Senate Democrats have done precisely what the AMA was assured they would not do. Instead of a permanent solution, Harry Reid has concocted a temporary “doc fix” that will last until right after the election:

A six-month stay on Medicare cuts cleared the Senate Friday but too late to avert what will be still a claims processing nightmare for physicians faced with a 21 percent reduction in their reimbursements.

That this double-cross was coming (finally) became obvious to outgoing AMA president, James J. Rohack, at the end of May. Rohack launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign accusing the Dems of going on vacation instead of keeping their word about a long-term payment fix:

The Senate has turned its back on our nation’s seniors and the physicians who care for them by leaving for vacation and failing to stop a 21 percent Medicare cut before their self-imposed June 1 deadline.

Well, now they’re back and today they gave Dr. Rohack the shaft. Moreover, there’s no chance a fix will come after the election. If the GOP takes the House or the Senate, the AMA’s collusion with the Dems will not make them anxious to help. If the Dems hang on, they’ll be too weak to do anything.

Such are the wages of collaboration.