Doctors' dilemma with health care reform

Why didn't they speak out earlier? There aren't going to be enough doctors and their salaries will be cut drastically with the new so-called "reforms."

They disagree strongly with the American Medical Association and its president, Cecil Wilson. With only 20 percent of physicians as members, the group has come out in support of the Senate health-reform bill, and it is focused on issues (blocking the cosmetic-surgery tax and the 5 percent tax for high Medicare users, for example) that most practicing physicians aren't really concerned about.

Most practicing docs are opposed to the current reform bills because they:

* Lack tort-reform measures for medical malpractice.

* Don't do away with scheduled yearly Medicare cuts and other across- the-board decreases in reimbursements.

* Expand insurance to 30 million more people without taking into account the doctor shortage and drop-out rate.

* Increase government oversight and extend a third-party payer system in which the doctor-patient relationship is obscured and most primary-care docs are paid less than veterinarians.