MINNEAPOLIS, June 17, 2008—The Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association in Chicago June 14-17 brought together large numbers of physician members, including a delegation from the MMA, led by Frank Indihar, M.D., who returned to Minnesota inspired and energized.

Indihar praised the keynote address given Sunday by Ron Davis, M.D., president of the AMA. "It was an inspiring and courageous message," Indihar said. "Davis, who is suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer, used a 'circle of life' theme that joined our life cycle, our work cycle, the people that we interact with throughout life, and the legacy that we leave behind. It was a beautiful valedictory for him. Ron has been a wonderful President and we all wish him the best as he battles his disease."

Nancy Nielsen, M.D., of Buffalo, was inaugurated as AMA President, the second woman to hold the organization's highest elected office. J. James Rohack, M.D., of Bryan, Tex., was named AMA president-elect.

The AMA's CEO, Michael Maves, M.D., reiterated the theme that the AMA, over the next few years, will gradually morph into a 'new' AMA. "It is apparent that membership and providing value to the doctors of America is the Board of Trustees' major goal," said Indihar. "And they are looking to providing America's physicians with an array of programs, advocacy, and support that will make membership in the AMA and the component societies a most desirable choice."

The Minnesota delegation included Indihar, M.D., chair of the delegation, plus delegates Raymond G. Christensen, M.D., Kenneth W. Crabb, M.D., Anthony C. Jaspers, M.D., Sally J. Trippel, M.D., John M. Van Etta, M.D., and Jason D. Meyers, medical student.

Alternate delegates included John P. Abenstein, M.D., M.S.E.E., Gail E. Baldwin, M.D., Blanton Bessinger, M.D., M.B.A., David L. Estrin, M.D., Paul C. Matson, M.D., and Benjamin H. Whitten, M.D., and MMA President James J. Dehen, M.D.

The Minnesota delegation presented a resolution asking the AMA to ask specialty societies to include information in their mailings to their specialty members about the AMA's advocacy efforts and successes.

The resolution was referred to the Board of Trustees to consider along with their other membership initiatives.

The AMA used the occasion of the annual meeting to launch its "Heal the Claims Process"™" campaign to cut waste from a chaotic insurance claims process, and to issue a new report card, crafted along the lines of the MMA's 2006 Tiering Report, which evaluates how well different health plans pay physicians.

The initial report card examines the claims processing performance of Medicare, Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, CIGNA, Coventry Health Care, Health Net, Humana, and United Healthcare.

A uniting factor at the meeting was efforts to stop looming Medicare cuts that will result in access problems for the nation’s seniors.

"We will continue to act on the business of America's physicians today," said Indihar. "A major effort is underway to lobby Congress on the unfortunate, scheduled Medicare payment reductions, which have not yet been repealed."

According to an AMA survey of physicians, 60 percent of physicians say this cut will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat.

Indihar invited the physicians of Minnesota join the delegation in calling our Congressional members and urging them to support the Medicare reimbursement solution introduced by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, S. 3101.

In policy deliberations, the AMA House of Delegates:

• adopted a new policy to address the growing debt burden of medical students. The organization will support a requirement that medical schools inform students of all government loan opportunities along with private loans, and will require medical schools to disclose why preferred lenders were chosen. The policy calls on the AMA to support transparency in how medical schools spend increases to students' tuition and fees. 
• concluded that high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute more to obesity than other caloric sweeteners, but called for further research on the health effects of this and other sweeteners. 
• adopted nine guiding principles on medical tourism, where patients are being recruited to other countries for medical procedures because of cost. These principles are designed to ensure similar quality to the care provided in the US.  
• reinforced the AMA's commitment to achieve universal coverage, and voted both to study the impact of free clinics on improving access to health care, and the tax treatment of health savings accounts. Two new campaign television ads were unveiled at the meeting and will begin to air across the country this fall. 
• called for the modification of current law to allow pilot studies on financial incentives for cadaveric organ donation.

Delegates also adopted a host of public health resolutions, including: 

• Appropriate supplementation of Vitamin D: The current recommendations for Vitamin D were established in 1997, and are thought to be overly conservative. The AMA called on the FDA to re-examine the current daily reference intake value for Vitamin D. 
• Rating system for processed foods: This new policy asks for an easier-to-understand food labeling system. An improved system will give consumers a better understanding of nutritional value. And it may encourage manufacturers to improve products' nutritional value. 
• Opposition to addition of flavors to cigarettes: The AMA supports state legislation to prohibit the sale or distribution of flavored tobacco products, to keep the younger generation tobacco-free. 
• Banning tobacco sales in store-based health clinics: Store-based clinics are usually located in pharmacy and large retail stores, which often sell tobacco products. The AMA voted to support efforts to ban the sale of tobacco products in outlets housing these clinics. 
• Personal medication supply in times of disaster: This policy supports allowing all patients with chronic conditions to keep an emergency store of prescription medications. 
• Elder mistreatment: A set of nine policy recommendations were adopted to improve clinical care and increase education and research in the area of elder mistreatment.