In Reply.
—I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the letter from Dr Manthous suggesting that the "AMA's recommendations for dealing with the crisis of the medically uninsured fail to address many central health issues that will face our society in the next century." Not surprisingly, I disagree. Here's why.
The AMA's proposal for system reform, Health Access America, is the most comprehensive proposal advanced to date. Among its 16 points, it provides for Medicaid reform, required employer insurance, Medicare reform, professional liability reform, repeal of mandated benefits, reduction of hassle factors, the implementation of professionally developed practice parameters and insurance underwriting reforms.
Health Access America makes no attempt to blame anybody for past system failures. Rather, it starts with the system's strengths and works to aggressively attack the system's weaknesses.
Manthous complains that we in the medical profession have "failed to police ourselves so the government has had to
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