Medical Students Outline U.S. Healthcare Needs

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 02 Oct 2007 - 5:00 PDT

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The healthcare debate is at the center of each of the presidential candidates' platforms. As the next generation of physicians, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest, independent medical student organization, calls on all candidates to focus their plans on patients.

In response to Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) recently announced healthcare plan, AMSA National President Dr. Michael Ehlert says, "Forcing the 47 million uninsured Americans to purchase health insurance will not solve the problem. Having health insurance is not the same as access to quality health care. We need to go back to basics and reform the current for-profit managed care system."

The United States has the most advanced medical treatments and facilities, but it is the most expensive per capita and it only provides mediocre health outcomes compared to other industrialized nations. AMSA recently announced its 2008 election platform, which includes details to provide affordable, quality healthcare for all. Specifically, AMSA supports a single, public, national health insurance program that will cover all necessary medical, dental and mental health services for all U.S. citizens.

"Future health professionals have a responsibility to re-establish U.S. leadership on healthcare," continues Ehlert. "In the coming weeks, all of the presidential candidates and many organizations will be announcing healthcare platforms. As the nation's next generation of physicians, we must look at these platforms very carefully. While everyone may want to solve the problem, each tactic is different. Very few proposals adequately address the problems of the health care system."

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently announced its "Voice for the Uninsured" campaign. "The AMA plan involves market-driven reform, in which competition among the health insurance companies will supposedly lead to reduced healthcare costs that will be passed on to consumers," says Flavio Casoy, AMSA Jack Rutledge Fellow on Universal Health Care and Eliminating Health Disparities. "This proposal is misguided. It does not focus on providing access to health care; rather, it emphasizes the expansion of insurance coverage."

For more than 57 years, AMSA has advocated on behalf of universal health care, both on a federal and state level. This weekend, medical students from across the country will gather at AMSA's 6th Annual Universal Health Care Leadership Institute.

About the American Medical Student Association

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), with more than a half-century history of medical student activism, is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. With more than 68,000 members, including medical and premedical students, residents and practicing physicians, AMSA is committed to improving medical training as well as advancing the profession of medicine. To learn more about AMSA, our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us online at http://www.amsa.org.