PAs for Health Freedom

June 12th the AAPA sent an urgent note to all AAPA members urging us to tell our Senators to “vote yes on the cloture motion to begin consideration of S. 3101.” The Cloture Motion was rejected (54-30, 7 not voting — go to this govt. site to see more on the bill).

The AAPA and the AMA are political groups with a political slant. But many of their members, ourselves included, feel that those political insights are shortsighted. The AAPA may feel any given certain bill is good for PAs, but what if it is bad for our country/communities in the long run.

Below is the e-mail I received from the AAPA (in case you did not get it):
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AAPA Members Urged to Contact Senators Today to Prevent Medicare Payment Cut!

Unless Congress acts within the next 13 legislative days, a 10.6 percent Medicare payment cut will take place on July 1. The Senate will take up a cloture motion to begin floor consideration, as early as June 12, to consider S. 3101, the “Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act.” (Unless the cloture motion is passed, the Senate cannot consider the Medicare bill.) Introduced by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), S. 3101 would stop the physician payment cut and extend the current 0.5 percent update through the rest of this year and provide an additional 1.1 percent update during 2009. AAPA urges you to contact your Senators today with the message, vote yes on the cloture motion to begin consideration of S. 3101. You may send an e-mail to your Senators’ offices through AAPA’s Legislative Action Center at http://members.aapa.org/vocus/index.htm. Scroll down to “Current Issues” and click on PREVENT MEDICARE PAYMENT CUT to learn more and take action. You may also call your Senators, courtesy of the AMA’s Advocacy Hotline, at 1-800-833-6354. Thank you!

Direct from AAPA’s homepage:

All PAs and PA students are encouraged to seek ways to enhance the delivery of quality medical care in their local communities. One way is by becoming involved in national efforts like the Divided We Fail campaign.

So, who the heck is “Divided We Fail” (DWF)? They are an affiliate of AARP and have a clear agenda to establish socialized medicine. Click here to see one of their many commercials where they use children to lull your mind. Since when does the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) fight for the well-being of children anyway? Their logo and their site jargon use deceptively vague terms while they try to cull your support of socialized medicine. To quote DWF’s site,

Our leadership believes that Americans should have access to affordable, quality health care and peace of mind about long-term financial security.

I will let you read between the lines. Or better yet, visit their site.

Do you really think the AAPA should be pushing this group on our members? If not, join our group, as our numbers increase, so will our influence in the AAPA. Our goal is to keep the AAPA politically neutral.

Sources:
1) AAPA News May 30, 2008
2) Federal Election Commission
3)

This should attract our readers’ antennae. The article talks about the AAPA’s Political Action Committee (PAC). PACs are legal ways to bribe politicians to listen to you. So, who is the AAPA bribing? I thought I’d look. I went to the FEC (Federal Election Commission) website and found out EXACTLY who the AAPA PAC paid. Click here for my compiled summary of the AAPA PAC contributions by congress. I list the contributions by congress person and their party. Note : 22 Democrats and 8 Republicans received funds donated by PAs. On the FEC site you can also find out which PAs donated. The Center for Responsive Politics (at www.opensecrets.org links to the AAPA PAC info also)

So, is the AAPA PAC supporting congress people who you support? Check out the FEC or OpenSecrets.org which makes these contributions transparent. Is the AAPA PAC supporting health policy that you support?

Source: AAPA News, May 30, 2008

The AAPA has a new project: “PAs for a Healthy America: Vote 2008” . According to the article on the same, the AAPA will be distributing campaign-style pins with the slogan at the conference. So what is behind this? The insert in this weeks News lists the “AAPA Principles for Health Care Reform” with the first being: “Access to quality, affordable, cost-effective health care for all”.

Anyone who know political keywords, knows that these all point to socialized medicine. Major players in the AAPA are using our organization to push their political agenda. Bill Leinweber, the AAPA’s new executive vice president/CEO says, “With a mission to promote quality, cost-effective, and accessible health care, and with our vision for PAs to be worldwide leaders vital to providing and improving the medical care of all people, we cannot remain silent at this time.” Translation: “PAs should vote for socialized medicine.” We disagree. But more than must disagreeing, we are offended that our national organization is taking a political stance while its members come from many political positions.

Source: May 15, 2008 AAPA News

From the article on “Clinical Resolutions on 2008 HOD Agenda:

“Genetic testing by private non-clinical companies is addressed in a resolution proposed by the Clinical and Scientific Affairs Council (CSAC). The resolution states that “AAPA believes that genetic testing for the presence of or susceptibility to disease should be available to the public only through the services of a qualified health care provider.”

My read of this statement: “The AAPA feels the public is not smart enough to be allowed a choice (free market) in who provides them with genetic information. The AAPA and other health industry stakeholders will decide what is good for people. Further, the AAPA will accept the opinion of the few PAs on the Clinical and Scientific Affairs Council’s (CSAC) as speaking for all PAs. After all, the CSAC knows better than any of us what we Americans need.”