A reader reacts to AMSA’s naive support of a single-payer system:
Like most activists, the medical students’ good intentions drip off the page in the article, “These future doctors want to fix health care”. However, they speak in flowery terms to describe a Marxist medical system. The reason hospitals are underfunded is because of mandated free medical care to everyone who comes to an emergency room ““ including illegal aliens. Their solution is higher taxes to make up the money the government refuses to provide.
In medical school, students get zero exposure to real-world, private practice medicine. Once they get a taste, often their idealistic notions of a glorious single-payer health-care utopia falls by the wayside.
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{ 4 comments }
I lie in California and have read the Keuhl Bill more than once. If that Bill, which passed both Houses, had been signed by the Governor, the following would have become a reality.
All insurance companies in California would be out of business-
Those physicians who choose to stay in California would become State employees.
Those physicians in every other place in the world who can’t make a living would come to California for a salaried JOB.
The majority of the good physicians would leave, as would business’ and other tax payers.
Wait… who will pay for this?
Right on Kevin. I was very involved in AMSA in the 80’s and found it a collection of leftest busybodies for whom posturing was more important than reality.
I was involved with AMSA until last year and nothing has changed since the 80s. On a local level, though, what I’ve noticed is that AMSA and that mentality reflects a relatively small minority of opinion in my class. Almost no one says the current state of affairs is PERFECT, but similarly very few people are out stumping for the AMSA party line.
That might have something to do with the exorbitant tuition (3rd year comes in over $60k for next year).
As I’ve said before, join AMA MEdical School Section. There is absolutely no need for division nor two medical school organizations. This goes for SNMA as well.
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