New Jersey Physicians To Form New Lobbying Group

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 17 Sep 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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Some New Jersey physicians on Wednesday plan to form a new lobbying group in the state that will work to lower medical malpractice insurance premiums and provide "a strong, unified voice for doctors," according to organizers, the Newark Star-Ledger reports (Campbell, Newark Star-Ledger, 9/12). The group, NJ Physicians, also plans to work to prevent HMOs and other managed care insurers from interfering in patient care, in part by creating a registry to document "where care has been compromised by others second-guessing physicians' decisions." NJ Physicians President Ron White said the group would work collaboratively with business, labor and community groups, health care providers and the pharmaceutical industry (Johnson, AP/Long Island Newsday, 9/12).

According to White, chief of surgery at Bergen Regional Medical Center, "The impetus for our group is that the [Medical Society of New Jersey] has over the years not been as effective as most physicians want," adding, "A group of doctors got together and said, 'We can put together a different sort of organization that will be more cooperative than adversarial'" (Newark Star-Ledger, 9/12). White said NJ Physicians and the state medical society can work together toward common goals (AP/Long Island Newsday, 9/12).

Michael Kornett, CEO of the state medical society, said the new group will not be effective in strengthening the voice of New Jersey physicians. "We believe any further division will prove to be a diversion and will be totally unnecessary." According to its own data, New Jersey medical society membership has declined from 8,172 in 2002 to 7,924 this year (Newark Star-Ledger, 9/12).

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