Setting itself apart from the American Medical Association, a coalition of 450,000 doctors in six physician groups is touting its new campaign, "Heal Health Care Now," to strongly back health reform and to urge their patients to do likewise.
The group of mostly primary care practitioners wants people to let their lawmakers know when they come home for August recess that health reform should be the nation's top priority.
"We want everybody to have healthcare, universal care, so nobody should face a personal catastrophe or bankruptcy when they have a medical event that can ruin a family's future," says Ted Epperly, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, a 94,000-member group, and a doctor in Boise, ID.
Epperly called the campaign "a viral video," with YouTube and other sorts of Internet-related messaging. "The goal is to have over one million people see it and spread it virally" across the country.
The effort does not speak to specifics of what should be in the health reform bill, only that there should be reform. More to the point, the campaign strives to enact a national policy of universal coverage.
"We don't want to get into the weeds with all the unique aspects because it's so distracting," Epperly says. "We're taking a 75,000-foot view: Do you want healthcare reform or do you not? We want people and doctors to tell their lawmakers that they do."
Much of their emphasis for changing the current system focuses on reorienting the system to a prevention model. Without health reform now, he says, patients "will live sicker, and they will die younger."
Epperly says these physician groups support a public plan, but they want one that pays higher rates than Medicare and does not mandate that physicians participate; they should have a choice. Reform also should not create a public plan that is so competitive that it forces health insurance companies out of business.
The video idea was launched, Epperly says, as a way of making sure the public understands that the bulk of front-line doctors want health reform. The American Medical Association, which was initially conflicted on the issue and now backs H.R. 3200, has not been as forceful in its advocacy as these doctors would like.
"The AMA is a group that's like the bar scene in one of the first Star Wars movies, it struggles to find its voice, and often is seen as the 'Party of No,' Epperly says.
The video was prepared by the Herndon Alliance, a nationwide coalition of 200 minority, faith, labor, advocacy, business, and healthcare provider groups, including the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of Retired People, the Mayo Clinic, and Families USA.
The group signed a letter that reads in part, "We are confident that the reforms being proposed will allow us to provide better quality care to our patients, while preserving patient choice of plan and doctor."
The group's media campaign is Web-based and includes a three-minute series of vignettes from physicians around the country explaining why the status quo is intolerable.
"Medicine now has been shifted and it's really now more about insurance companies and rules that aren't fair. It's no longer about the patient and the doctor," says Lori Heim, MD of Vass, NC.
It's so crucial to make sure health reform passes this time around, and not befall the same fate as a similar attempt did during the Clinton administration, Epperly says.
"It's so different this time—this is the first time that 47 million Americans have gone without health insurance. We have big businesses going bankrupt and people going bankrupt on healthcare costs," he says.
Although the majority of Americans support healthcare reform, more people are changing their minds as the healthcare debate heats up, according to a new study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health issues research foundation.
More than half (56%) of Americans believe health reform is more important than ever, even in today's economy. The public (two to one) thinks that the country as a whole would be better off if Congress enacts reform now, according to the July Kaiser Health Tracking Poll of more than 1,200 English- and/or Spanish-speaking Americans. Nevertheless, the tide of public opinion is swaying.
"The public wants help with their health care bills and supports health reform, but the hotter the debate and the longer it lasts, the more anxious the public will become," said Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman in a Kaiser press release last week.
Shifting tide of public opinion
The study indicates that Americans are changing which box they mentally check: "for" or "nay" on the big "R" word—reform. Public support for health reform is down 5 percentage points from last month, falling from 61% to 56%.
Why the change of minds?
One reason is expenses. Initial reports estimate the healthcare overhaul will costs $1 trillion over the next 10 years. The public splits on the whether the United States can actually afford to pay that price tag for health coverage. Fifty-one percent are willing to open their wallets to pay higher insurance premiums or taxes, while another 44% are not.
Another reason why the public is reconsidering reform may be that they are influenced by advertisements. People report seeing more healthcare reform-related ads now, up 10 percentage points this month, rising from 21% to 31%, and most of the ads are negative.
Americans may also be changing their minds about healthcare reform because they believe such a national change will affect their family. More than half (54%) of Americans have doubts and worries that congressional intervention will be bad for their family. The study indicates that the public's concern about the effects on families is driven by Republican voices, according to the study.
In fact, when asked, "Which worries you more: the government or insurance companies," more people (45%) answered "the government." Another 36% said insurance companies are scarier, and 12% are equally concerned about both types of institutional intervention.
Crossing party lines
But it seems most Americans, regardless of party affiliation, can change their minds on a dime. As demonstrated by congressional voices on Capitol Hill, the hot button issue of healthcare reform crosses party lines. Both sides split on support and opposition. Seven in 10 Democratic Americans back reform now. Six in 10 Republicans do not.
"Public support for health reform will depend on which arguments get through to the American people and, ultimately, how they answer the question of how will health reform affect their family," said Kaiser Vice President and Director of Public Opinion and Survey Research Mollyann Brodie in the Kaiser press release.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee resumed work on major healthcare legislation, voting to establish a government-run health insurance plan. By a vote of 35 to 24, Democrats defeated a Republican effort to eliminate a section of the bill that would create the public health insurance option. President Obama supports a public plan, saying it would foster competition and keep private insurers honest.
President Obama has pledged that a revamped healthcare system would hold down exploding costs. But efforts to control medical practices that have driven up expenses, including physician "self-referrals," underscore how difficult it is to alter entrenched patterns. A host of studies and reports by academics and the federal government shows that physicians who own scanners order many more scans than those who do not. As a result, Americans pay billions of dollars in extra taxes and insurance premiums.
Senate GOP negotiators are trying to slow down healthcare talks, likely delaying a long-awaited bipartisan deal until after the August recess. Three Democratic and three Republican negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee continued to insist that they were making significant progress in crafting a $900 billion bill that would provide coverage to 95% of Americans, but they acknowledged for the first time that they will not have a full-committee legislative markup until after Labor Day.
Liberal lawmakers from solidly Democratic districts are threatening a revolt that could doom President Obama's bid to sign a major healthcare bill this year. In the House, liberals are furious at their leaders for striking a deal with conservative Democrats that would weaken the proposal to create a government insurance program. On July 30, 57 of these liberals sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi warning that they would vote against any bill that contained the terms of the deal.