Doctors Unite Against Obamacare

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Twila Brase, co-founder and president of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, http://www.cchfreedom.org), a Minnesota-based national organization dedicated to preserving patient-centered health care and protecting patient and privacy rights, has long worked to educate Americans, lawmakers and the medical profession about the dangers of Obamacare, especially how it compromises care, ties doctors’ hands and takes more money from hard-working Americans.

Now, some doctors are joining the fight against the doomed, poorly planned and shoddily executed government health care plan.

According to a recent article in the Examiner.com, doctors are tired of dealing with the new laws and adjustments in health care and are uniting against the “politically driven government takeover of our health care, passed by overt bribery and coercion.”

The Examiner.com article also quoted Brase, who said, “We’re moving away from the mission of medicine and more towards the business of healthcare, and these two endeavors are not the same thing. We’re moving in the wrong direction. When other people hold the dollars, the mission of medicine is compromised. Whether it’s the government, or an insurance company, the agendas of the people with the money ultimately take precedence over the needs of the patient.”

Specifically, one Texas doctor told the Examiner that the Obama Administration has used “half-truths and misleading statements disparaging physicians and our American health care system,” and “now that we have seen what is in the law, we know it is not the right solution. It is time for the doctors who care for you and your family to be heard.”

Now, the United Physicians and Surgeons of America have started the movement “Let My Doctor Practice,” an effort to “restore the voice of the doctor to the practice of medicine. We believe in the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship, the autonomy to practice medicine without restraint imposed by overreaching government and corporate entities, and, above all, that patient care and safety should never be compromised.”

The American Medical Association (AMA) has communicated its support of the Affordable Care Act, but AMA’s membership numbers have been struggling. Statistics vary when it comes to the numbers of doctors who belong to the AMA, but the percentages range from approximately 25 percent down to just 14 percent. A report from MedPage Today found that about 17 percent of the nation’s 1 million-plus doctors, specialists and medical students were part of the AMA in 2011. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates there are nearly 900,000 primary care physicians and specialists across the country.

Regardless of the varying numbers, the bulk of doctors (77 percent) do not believe the AMA represents their views, according to a 2011 volunteer-based online survey by the physician staffing firm Jackson & Coker. Additionally, just 13 percent of American physicians agree with the AMA’s endorsement of Obamacare, also according to Jackson & Coker.

Recent other surveys of thousands of doctors also found that Obamacare is having a negative impact on healthcare for their patients, with many doctors saying they will likely retire in the next five years because of the destructive health care plan, reports the Examiner. Other doctors are planning to extricate themselves from third-party payers. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons holds “Thrive Not Just Survive” workshops for interested doctors.

Today, more than five years after the Affordable Care Act was signed, CCHF continues to share the “Top Ten Terribles” of Obamacare, which include:

Lack of privacy

Increased costs for patients

Fewer health care choices

Tying the hands of doctors

Ending insurance and growing big government

For more information about CCHF, visit its web site at http://www.cchfreedom.org, its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/cchfreedom or its Twitter feed, @CCHFreedom.

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, a patient-centered national health freedom organization based in St. Paul, Minn., exists to protect health care choices and patient privacy. CCHF sponsors the daily, 60-second radio feature, Health Freedom Minute, which airs on approximately 350 stations nationwide, including 200 on the American Family Radio Network and 100 on the Bott Radio Network. Listeners can learn more about the agenda behind health care initiatives and steps they can take to protect their health care choices, rights and privacy.

CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase, R.N., has been called one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Health Care” and one of “Minnesota’s 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders.” A public health nurse, Brase has been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, Minnesota Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, NBC’s Today Show, NPR, New York Public Radio, the Associated Press, Modern Healthcare, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Washington Times, among others. She is at the forefront of informing the public of crucial health issues, such as intrusive wellness and prevention initiatives in Obamacare, patient privacy, informed consent, the dangers of “evidence-based medicine” and the implications of state and federal health care reform.