Harold Pollack takes a look and learns with some surprise that physicians are starting to come together in support of health care reform. Traditionally, it was not so -- the American Medical Association has always had a conservative tinge. While Pollack makes his case with surveys, I can attest to something of a sea change on a more personal level.
My father is a physician, and a Republican at that, and has never had many good words for any of the various health care reform schemes -- probably the only thing he dislikes more is the status quo. A few weeks ago, though, he was in town for the American Urological Association's annual advocacy conference, basically a bunch of doctors coming to D.C. for the weekend to be briefed on the latest government health care policy issues and then sent to lobby their respective representatives. When I met him for dinner after a day of briefings from the AUA, I was expecting to hear a lot of criticism for the various health care proposals gaining steam in Congress.
Not so! He said he was pleased with the way things seemed to be going, especially on new adjustments to the Medicare reimbursement scheme. It's no guarantee, of course, that when health-care reform eventually shakes out, he or any other doctor will be pleased with the results, but it's a good early sign -- and much better, I understand, than the climate in 1994.
-- Tim Fernholz
