The health care battle didn't end for doctors with the passage of the federal health law and their spending shows it. The American Medical Association was the biggest spender for lobbying operations among healthcare groups last year. The AMA, which supported the Democratic health law, faced a serious backlash from members angry that planned cuts in Medicare reimbursements weren't reversed by the law. To overturn the cuts, the AMA mounted a strong campaign on Capitol Hill. The AMA spent nearly $22 million for the year, an increase of nearly 9%. That effort helped the organization secure in December "a one year reprieve from the scheduled cuts resulting from the broken Medicare physician payment system," said AMA President Cecil Wilson in a statement to KHN.
