Public Healthcare? The Doctors Say NO

President Obama's rhetoric often anchors itself on meaningless rhetoric and twisted half-truths. But now there's one talking point he can't make any more – that most doctors favor government-run healthcare.

According to the New York Times:

the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system.

Not being a doctor, I'm very unversed in the intricacies of medicine, economics and politics, but the A.M.A.'s position makes logical sense:

“The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to expand health insurance coverage and lower costs. The introduction of a new public plan threatens to restrict patient choice by driving out private insurers, which currently provide coverage for nearly 70 percent of Americans.”If private insurers are pushed out of the market, the group said, “the corresponding surge in public plan participation would likely lead to an explosion of costs that would need to be absorbed by taxpayers.”

It will be interesting to see if Obama's gift of salesmanship can overpower the nation's most powerful and respected voice in medicine. It will be tragic if it can.