As elections near, AMA spotlights uninsured issue

Washington -- The American Medical Association in September stood with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle calling on Congress and the next president to cover the tens of millions of people without health coverage.

AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, joined Sens. Ron Wyden (D, Ore.) and Bob Bennett (R, Utah) and Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R, Texas), in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 18 to call for action on the problem of the uninsured, most recently estimated to number 45.7 million.

The AMA used the opportunity to unveil its new broadcast, print and online ads, which will run until the Nov. 4 elections. They are the newest element of the Association's Voice for the Uninsured campaign, which launched a year ago.

In one of the new print ads, a physician's image is accompanied by the statement: "I took an oath to help all patients. Without insurance, the people that need to see me the most don't come to see me." Another ad features a child whose parents can't afford health coverage.

"This is not a problem of the nameless, faceless individual," Dr. Nielsen said. "This affects all of us. It is time now to get to a solution."

Wyden has introduced the Healthy Americans Act, a universal coverage measure that is co-sponsored by Bennett. It would require every American to buy private health insurance and would establish state-run insurance purchasing pools to offer coverage.

The measure would replace the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance with a standard tax deduction for individuals and families. It would maintain Medicare and military health care but shift most of those covered by Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program to the new insurance pools.

Although the AMA did not officially endorse the legislation, the bill follows many of the Association's principles for universal health system reform, according to a May 6 letter from AMA Executive Vice President and CEO Michael D. Maves, MD, MBA. It would encourage individual ownership of and personal responsibility for health coverage, subsidies for lower-income individuals, private competition and a leveling of tax benefits for buying health insurance, Dr. Maves wrote.

The Healthy Americans Act, which has bipartisan support in both houses, has attracted increased attention since the Congressional Budget Office in May estimated that the bill would begin to slow the growth of health spending by 2014 if adopted this year.

"You can fix health care without a massive infusion of additional spending," Wyden said.

Wyden hopes to move the universal coverage legislation after the new administration takes over in January 2009.