Obama To Doctors: "I Need Your Help"

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: Health Care

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Controlling the spiraling cost of health care in America will be essential to implementing effective health care reform, President Obama told the American Medical Association today, "and in order to do that," he said, "we're going to need the help of the AMA."

At the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago, the president said real reform will mean curbing costs and closing cost disparities across the country, changing incentives for doctors and encouraging best practices -- as well as ensuring every American can get coverage they can afford by offering a government-sponsored insurance option. (Read the president's full remarks here.)

"But my signature on a bill is not enough. I need your help, doctors," Mr. Obama said. "To most Americans, you are the health care system. Americans – me included – just do what you recommend. That is why I will listen to you and work with you to pursue reform that works for you. And together, if we take all these steps, we can bring spending down, bring quality up, and save hundreds of billions of dollars on health care costs while making our health care system work better for patients and doctors alike."

The president delivered his remarks days after the AMA expressed its opposition to the most liberal proposals for a government-sponsored health care option, or "public plan." The group said it is against any public plan that would require physicians to participate in it, or that would pay the same rates as Medicare -- a program the AMA considers broken. They are willing to accept less robust options, however.

"The AMA is willing to consider other variations of a public plan that are currently under discussion in Congress," AMA President Nancy Nielsen said in a statement. "This includes a federally chartered co-op health plan or a level playing field option for all plans. The AMA is working to achieve meaningful health reform this year and is ready to stand behind legislation that includes coverage options that work for patients and physicians."

The president acknowledged concerns about the public option, including physicians' worries that the application of Medicare rates in the plan would mean cost savings would come at their expense -- or less pay for doctors.

"These are legitimate concerns, but ones, I believe, that can be overcome," he said, adding that there "needs to be a public option that will give people a broader range of choices and inject competition into the health care market so that force waste out of the system and keep the insurance companies honest."

He added that doctors will be reimbursed "in a thoughtful way tied to patient outcomes" instead of negotiations based on politics and state budgets.

"The alternative is a world where health care costs grow at an unsustainable rate," Mr. Obama said. "If you don't think that's going to threaten your resimbursements and the stability of our health care system, you haven't been paying attention."

Other critiques of the public plan, he said, are not legitimate, such as the claim "a public option is somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system."

"When you hear the naysayers claim that I'm trying to bring about government-run health care, know this – they are not telling the truth," Mr. Obama said.

The president won huge applause from the audience of doctors when he said that his reforms could be undermined by the threat of medical malpractice lawsuits, since doctors may feel compelled to order inefficient and unnecessary treatments so they are less legally vulnerable.

"Don't get too excited yet," he said to their cheers. "I'm not advocating caps on malpractice awards, which I personally believe can be unfair to people who've been wrongfully harmed."

Mr. Obama said the government and the medical industry should explore a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first, how to let doctors focus on practicing medicine, and how to encourage broader use of evidence-based guidelines.

"I want to work with the AMA so we can scale back the excessive defensive medicine reinforcing our current system," he said.

Watch President Obama's Remarks To The American Medical Association.

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by chitown639 June 16, 2009 8:53 AM EDT: by IThoughtItWasFunnyAgin June 16, 2009 1:24 AM PDT
AND the services you get from those hospitals and those doctors is determined by the government also...i.e. you will get what they want you to have and that's it.

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You're totally ignoring the fact that the FOR PROFIT GREEDY insurance companies are already rationing services you receive from hospitals and doctors, the insurance companies are already rationing your health care so the services may receive from your doctor won't cut into their huge profits....i.e. you will ONLY get what they want you to have and that's it.....; Reply to this comment


by chitown639 June 16, 2009 8:40 AM EDT: You're totally ignoring the fact that the for PROFIT GREEDY insurance companies are already rationing and determining the services you get from hopitals and doctors....you already get what the insurance company want you to have, and that's it.....; Reply to this comment


by IThoughtItWasFunnyAgin June 16, 2009 2:53 AM EDT: "At the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago, the president said real reform will mean curbing costs and closing cost disparities across the country, changing incentives for doctors and encouraging best practices -- as well as ensuring every American can get coverage they can afford by offering a government-sponsored insurance option."

And so, doctors, there you have it. Your president is telling you to change your incentives from being paid what you are worth to being paid the pittance that the government wants to pay you, simply because some are too lazy to pay their health care bills themselves and want somebody else to do it.

And we won't even mention that the country and ALL it's health care programs are bankrupt and don't have one dime to their name from being robbed and mismanaged by the independently wealthy rug rats in Washington.

Anybody would be insane to get on board this communist's bandwagon...he's a laughable joke.; Reply to this comment


by cbsantispin June 16, 2009 1:40 AM EDT: It should not be O.K. for over 40 million legal Americans to be without basic health insurance. Every legal American should have basic health insurance. Attacks like socialism, who is going to pay for it and so on are obsolete arguments and objections. It's time to propose solutions so that all Americans can be covered instead of attacks that don't solve the problem.; Reply to this comment


by cranialnerves June 15, 2009 10:22 PM EDT: Shep Smith was right about some of you.; Reply to this comment


by ubrew12 June 15, 2009 9:26 PM EDT: enriquieGonzales said: "had that icky feeling Obama would take us down to a socialist path, just didnt realize it would be so intense and quick."

If you want to avoid the socialist path try not to screw up the capitalist one. We were deep in recession before Obama came along, as well as deep in debt. Near as I can tell, that was so that Wall Street bankers could institute 'go-go' capitalism without regulation, and to invade Iraq. How'd that turn out?; Reply to this comment


by grabandgo June 15, 2009 9:10 PM EDT: The Doctors are already squeezed. It is the drug companies screwing us. Why isn't nobama targeting them or do they pull the puppets strings?; Reply to this comment


by gravyboat3000 June 15, 2009 8:15 PM EDT: "kicking", the (losers)?, to the curb. Who are the losers?

I'm assuming the insurance companies, Physcians and politicians that would fight healthcare change?

That's a difficult proposition, to change healthcare, you need the insurance companies and Physicians as partners.

Politics will, once again, be the obstacle in this issue.
Posted by gravyboat3000

Hey there Gravy :>)
He may be speaking of the private insurers? cause on that aspect, I know of an agent who won a trip to Europe w/ his spouse paid for as well, to 2 countries, for 10 days and it was ALL inclusive...and they didn't have to shell out a single penny except for maybe personal shopping for being 'salesman of the year'...that's where your money is going...lavish perks, cause they sure fight tooth and nail to avoid the payout on claims...which costs the patient more for paperwork shuffle
Posted by Thalia-9

How are ya?

Maybe he sold the most policies? I had a friend who's Dad sold insurance, he had all sorts of incentives to reach his,"numbers".

I don't fault people for doing a good job, but perhaps that trip was over the top. lol

That said, it's the waste that bothers me. Overcharging by providers, and Insurance companies operating on the cheap, with little oversite is the issue.

Paperwork is a necessary evil, unfortunately. That goes for medical insurance, home owners insurance, automotive insurance, etc.

ALL insurance companies are in the business of NOT paying on claims first, and that's not going to change.; Reply to this comment


by gravyboat3000 June 15, 2009 8:07 PM EDT: The Doctors should help. They know the republican created HMOs are worthless. They just eat up health care funds and provide no service other than lining stockholders pockets. The HMOs also limit your choice of doctors to those that are "in network". The HMOs have been exposed like the republican party. Time to get rid of them.
Posted by rightaboutit

You don't know what you're talking about.

I have HMO coverage, and I love it. Dr's pick which networks they want to work within, and it's the same for PPO's. They tell you, within PPO coverage that you can go to any Dr., but that's not always the case.

None of which has anything to do with the President's proposals.

The HMO/PPO system would remaint the same, but, if the President gets his way, would be cheaper, in addition to there being a Govt. alternative, that wouldn't be Medicare or Medicaid.; Reply to this comment


by gravyboat3000 June 15, 2009 7:44 PM EDT: I say the time has come to kick the losers to the curb and make the changes we all know we need to make. Leaving it for the next generation is NOT an option and hoping it will fix itself is out of the question.
Posted by skyk-2009 at 4:33

"kicking", the (losers)?, to the curb. Who are the losers?

I'm assuming the insurance companies, Physcians and politicians that would fight healthcare change?

That's a difficult proposition, to change healthcare, you need the insurance companies and Physicians as partners.

Politics will, once again, be the obstacle in this issue.; Reply to this comment