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973INDEX
PS NEWS
LETTERS and ULLETINS
JANUARY THROUGH DECEMBER
Name
or Item
Index No. Type
Date
AAPS Annual Meeting
AAPS
Cotostrophe Major
Medical Insurance
8
10
Plan 4
AAPS
Chapter
Organization Manual
Order
Blank
AAPS Filmstrip Project
AAPS Florida Chapter
AAPS Index
AAPS Lawsuit
AAPS Medical Economics Committee
Report
AAPS Opens Washingtan Office
AAPS
Pamphlet
Rack
AAPS Private Doctors Institute
AAPS Resolutions
AAPS
Statement
AAPS Washington Bulletin
AAPS Woman's Auxiliary
Ainsworth, Thomas, M.D.
American
Academy
of Family Physicians,
The
American Hospital Association
American Medical Association
10
11
4
10
9
10
13
2
4
6
10
6
10
13
13
6
9
2
6
9
13
1
2
6
8
9
12
NL April
NL June
NL
August
NL
March
NL
April
NL
August
NL
September
NL
December
NL August
2.19.73
NL
July
NL August
NL
November
NL
December
2-19-73
NL
April
NL January
NL
February
3-6-73
NL
March
NL
May
NL August
NL
May
NL
August
NL
November
NL
3-6-73
2-15-73
3-6-73
November
NL May
NL July
NL
January
NL
February
NL May
NL July
NL November
NL January
NL February
NL April
NL May
NL
June
NL
July
NL
September
NL
OctDber
NL - News Le tter
EB - Emergency Bulletin
18 - Information Bulletin
LB - Legislative Bulletin
Name
or Item
Index No. Type Date
AMA Board of Trustees
AMA
Bylaws
AMA Code
of
Ethics
American Medical News
American Medical Political Action
Committee (AMPAC)
Amer.icon Physicians Guild
American Physicians Union
American Urological Association South
Central Section
8
8
6
9
2
6
9
6
9
9
12
Association of American Medical Colleges 6
Association of American Medical Society
Executives
Anthony, E. E. M.D.
Anthony, Mrs.
E
E.
Bauer, Alfred W., M.D.
Bauer, William I., M.D.
Bennett, Wallace, Senator
Bierce, Ambrose
Big Brothe-r Medicine Annual Meeting
Brochure
Blasingame, F.J.L., M.D.
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Breslow, Lester, M.D.
Buerger, Walter, M.D.
Caine, Curtis W., M.D.
California
Chapter of
AAPS
California Council for Health Plan
Alternatives
California Medical Association
13
13
8
11
2
s
8
11
4
10
6
4
2
s
2
4
8
NL June
NL June
NL
May
NL
July
NL January
NL February
NL May
NL July
NL September
NL
May
NL July
NL July
NL
October
NL
May
NL April
3-6-73
NL
November
NL
November
NL
June
NL September
NL
February
NL April
NL June
NL September
NL December
NL January
8-16-73
NL
August
NL
January
NL
May
NL March
NL February
NL April
NL
February
NL March
NL
June
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Name ar
Item
Index No.
Type
Date
Name
or Item
Index
No.
Type
Date
California
Medical Group 4 NL
March
F
Campbell
Mrs.
R.
L. 13 NL
November
2 15 73
ederal Register Reprint FDA
Catholic Hospital
Association
6 NL
May
Florida Medical
Association
NL
September
CHAMPUS
12 NL
October
Food
and
Drug
Administration
FDA)
6 NL
May
Chenault John M., M.D. 6 NL
May
8 NL
June
Chrysler 12 NL October
Cohen, Harold M.,
M.D. 4
NL
March
-
G
Cohen, Wilbur
J.
1
NL
January
2
NL February
Gitlitz, Benjamin
0. M.D.
2
NL
February
12
NL October
Gral Thomas, M.D. 3 NL November
Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch
14 NL
December
Grinker,
Roy R.,
Sr.,
M.D.
9
NL
July
Commission on
Quality
Health
Care
Group
Health and Welfare
News
NL January
Assurance
6 NL
May
Health
Association
of
America
12 NL October
roup
Congressional Record
7
EB
5 23 73
14 NL December
Constantine,
Jay
NL September
Cooper John
A.
D., M.D.
6
NL
May
H
Council of Medical
Staffs
NL
July
Hampton, H. Phillip, M.D.
5
NL
April
Coy, Francis, M.D.
NL
September
Harris Poll
14 NL
December
Crane
Phil, Repr.
2
NL
February
HASP
(Ill. State Med. Soc.)
NL September
Cullum, Mrs. Albert
G.
J.
13
NL November
Hassard, Howard
12 NL October
Health Insurance Plan
of Greater
D
New York
NL January
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
NL
January
4
NL March
Darling
Case
6 NL
May
6
NL
May
Debauching The Currency
2 NL February
10
NL
August
Nl September
Deitrick, John E., M.D.
6
NL May
12 NL October
Dept.
of
Health, Education,
and
Welfare
NL April
13 NL
November
6 NL
May
14
NL December
8
NL June
Helms, Jesse,
Senator
13
NL
November
NL
September
Holy Family Hospital
NL
November3
Devils'
Dictionary
NL
January
House Commerce Committee
10
NL
August
Dingell,
John Jr. Repr.
NL January
NL
September
Dingell,
John Sr., Repr.
NL
January
House Subcommittee
on
Public Health
Doenges, James L.,
M.D.
NL September
and Environment
7
EB
5 23 73
Dole, Robert, Repr.
12
NL
October
Hunter,
Robert B., M.D.
5
NL
April
8 NL
June
Dominick,
Pete H . Senator
6 NL
May
2
NL October
Dorrity, Thomas
G.
M.D.
3 6 73
4
NL
March
I
6 NL
May
DuVal, Merlin
K., M.D.
NL January
Indiana
State Medical
Association
6 NL
May
-
E J
Edgecombe-Nash Medical Society
(N.C.)
13 NL
November
Jackson, Carmault
B.,
M.D.
12
NL October
Edwards, Charles C., M.D.
NL April
Jaggard
Robert
s.,
M.D.
NL
January
3
EB
2 21 73
1 NL
August
3 6 73
NL
September
13
NL
November
12
NL
October
England
Mrs. Robert
G.
13 NL
November
Javits,
Jacob
Senator
6 NL
May
Joint Commission on
Accreditation
of
Ervin, Sam
J. Senator
14 NL
December
Hospitals
(JCAH)
2 NL
February
Eulogy
of the
Doctor
NL September
13
NL
November
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Name
or
Item
Index No. Type Date
Kaiser-Permanente
Kennedy Bill (HMO)
Kennedy, Edward M., Senator
Kennedy-Griffiths Bill
Kentucky Medical Association
King, Mrs. Merrill
Knapp, Robert D., Jr., M.D.
Komanetsky, William M., M.D.
Kramer, Maurice A.
K -
l -
Lafourche Parish Medical Society (La.)
Laird, Melvin
La
Motte, William
0.,
Jr.,
M.D.
Lombardo, Virginia E.
Long, Russell B. Senator
Lord, Bissell Brook
Louisiana State Medical Society
Louis,
John, M.D.
Lutheran General Hospital
Lynch and Raphael
Lynch,
Judge
William
Mccampbell, S. R. M.D.
-- Mc -
Mcintyre, Thomas
J., Senator
McKenzie, Walten H., M.D.
McMahan,
R. R.
MacNeal,
Perry S., M.D.
Marihuana Brochure
Massachusetts Physician
Medicaid
Medi-Cal
Medical Economics
Medical News Report
Medical Staff Bulletin
4
12
12
5
10
14
13
10
2
13
12
14
13
11
13
2
9
13
13
9
8
12
4
8
10
6
10
9
NL January
NL March
NL May
NL September
NL October
NL
October
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
3-6-73
April
August
December
January
3-6-73
November
January
NL August
NL
February
NL November
NL
NL
October
December
4-6-73
NL July
NL November
NL May
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
September
September
September
November
February
May
July
November
NL November
NL January
NL July
NL May
NL June
NL October
NL March
NL June
NL August
NL January
NL May
NL August
NL July
Name
or
Item Index No. Type Date
Medicare
Medicine
and
the State
Medicine Without an Ethic
Melvin, Art
Mills, Wilbur, Repr.
Moore, Thomas G.,
Jr.
Murray-Wagner-Dingell Bill
National Association of Physicians and
Surgeons Trust
National Professional
Standards
Review
Council
Nebraska House of Delegates
New York Times, The
Nixon, Richard M., President
8
12
4
10
12
8
8
11
Northam.Harry
E.
Memorial Free Enterprise
Essay Contest 1
Oklahoma
Stale Medical Association
Oklahoma State Medical Association Reprint
PSRO
Is
a Four Letter Word 2
Orange
Co. Medical Society (Fla.)
P
Pacoima Memorial Lutheran Hospital
(Calif.)
Peer Review Organization
Peterson, Maurice W., M.D.
Peterson, Mrs. Maurice W.
Porterfield,
John
D., M.D.
PSRO Pledge
Card
PSRO
Public
Law
89-749
Public Law 91-515
4
2
13
12
5
2
3
4
5
6
8
10
11
12
13
14
7
7
NL May
NL June
NL Septembe
NL January
NL
NL
NL
3-6-73
October
March
August
NL October
NL June
NL
NL
May
January
NL May
NL
June
NL September
NL January
NL May
NL February
NL
NL
NL
September
March
February
3-6-73
NL November
NL October
4-6-73
NL
April
NL July
NL January
NL February
EB
2-21-73
NL
March
4-6-73
NL April
NL May
NL June
NL
July
NL August
NL
September
NL October
NL November
NL
December
EB 5-23-73
EB
5-23-73
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Name or Item
Index No. Type Date
Public Law 92-603
Quality Assurance Program QAP)
Quinlan, Donald,
M.D.
Rarick Bill HR-9375)
Rarick, John R. Repr.
Ramsey, Hugh S., M.D.
Raymond, James J ., J.D.
Reaves, Robert G., M.D.
Ribicoff, Abraham, Senator
Roche, George
C.
Ill Ph.D.
Rogers, Frank A., M.D.
Rogers, Paul G., Repr.
Roth, Russell, M.D.
Roy William R. M.D., Repr.
Satterfield, David, Repr.
Saxon, Mrs. Michael_ R.
Schenken, John
R.
M.D.
Schreiber, Jack, M.D.
Schwartz, Harry
Scott, Hugh, Senator
Sellman, Richard
L.
M.D.
Seminar 76
R
Shambaugh,
George E.
Jr.,
M.D.
2
3
4
5
0
10
13
14
2
0
9
13
4
0
13
14
13
14
12
NL
January
NL
February
EB 2-21-73
NL
March
NL
April
NL
May
NL
August
NL
NL
November
December
NL
February
NL May
NL July
NL November
NL March
NL
May
NL
November
NL December
NL
NL
November
December
NL
October
NL
January
3-6-73
NL
May
5
12
2
4
13
14
7
12
10
12
13
14
13
12
5
2
9
NL
NL
April
October
NL
February
3-6-73
NL
March
NL November
NL December
EB
5-23-73
NL October
NL January
NL
August
NL October
NL
NL
NL
November
December
November
3-6-73
3-673
NL
January
NL October
NL
April
NL
January
NL February
NL July
Name
or
Item Index No. Type Date
Sherrill, William M., M.D.
Siemers, William F., Rev.
Social Security
St. Joseph Hospital Chicago ,
Ill.)
Steunebrink, Sjoerd, M.D.
Subcommittee on Retirement, Insurance
Health Benefits
Supreme Court
Symms, Steven 0., Repr.
T
Tennessee State Legislature
Texas Medical Association House of
Delegates
Thomassen,
E. H.
M.D.
u
UAW
Volunteer Legislative Key-Man
W
Waldie, Jerome
R.
Repr.
Wall Street Journal, The
Weinberger,
Caspar,
Secy.,
HEW
Welch, Claude E. M.D.
Williams, Kenneth J., M.D.
Winter, F. 0., M.D.
Wohlers, Albert H., Co.
Wolpert, Edward A., M.D.
Woodcock, Leonard
Woodhull, F. Earl,
M.D.
Woolley, Frank
Young, Thomas L
Y
14
11
12
4
13
8
6
12
5
12
5
2
10
11
12
14
4
9
8
12
5
4
10
12
13
4
NL December
NL September
NL October
NL
March
NL November
NL
January
NL
June
NL
September
NL
May
NL
May
NL Octobe
NL April
NL
October
2-15-73
NL
January
NL
April
NL February
NL
August
NL September
NL
October
NL
May
NL
December
NL March
NL July
NL June
NL
October
NL April
NL
January
3-6-73
NL
March
EB 5-23-73
NL
NL
NL
August
October
November
NL
March
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THE VOICE OR PRIV TE DOC TOR S
Index No.
January,
1973, Volume 27, No.
Private Doctors Institute
Not Every Society is Blind
Cohen, Wilbur J., loves It
a
Reprints Available
Stop Wasteful Government Spending
PSRO
Marihuana
Brochure Available
HMO Bill Again Introduced
AAPS Does Have Help
Aid from New York Times???
Essay Contest
Bound AAPS News letters Available
Food for Thought
PRIVATE
DOCTORS
INSTITUTE
INDEPENDENCE
RIGHTS
FREEDOM
Are we losing them?
What are we going to do about it?
Can we win? Can we win without understand
ing?
To
get some answers,
attend
the PRIVATE DOC
TORS INSTITUTE,
April 12-15 at the Drake Oak-
brook Hotel on
the
outskirts of Chicago. To supply
these answers, AAPS has
arranged
sessions of
SEMINAR
76 for the last two days of the Institute
to help us identify our fundamental beliefs so we
can
better understand why we
are
losing and
what can
be
done to reverse the course of battle.
SEMINAR 76 is a tool you can begin using now
at home with your neighbors.
It
will vastly
crease understanding of the truths underlyi
man s basic nature.
WHAT IS
IT?
SEMINAR 76 is a unique self-discovery e
perience.
It
is a concentrated citizensh
workshop.
A new program,
SEMINAR
76 provides
opportunity to rediscover and bring in
sharp
perspective America s beliefs co
cerning basic human rights and freedoms
what freedom means
and
what rights
a
and
what
they
are
not.
The focus of SEMINAR 76 is on the perso
al rediscovery of the basic principles
-
7/26/2019 AAPS News 1973
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which this nation was founded, providing an
opportunity to examine in depth the
true
meaning of
"life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
WHAT'S IN T FOR AAPS MEMBERS?
A new awareness by members of
the
mean
ing and value
of
good citizenship.
A new respect for logical reflection; a
deep
er
appreciation of
the
need to fulfill re
sponsibilities in order to enjoy rights
and
freedoms; a
better understanding
of
the
rule of law."
Advanced
self-confidence, consciousness of
leadership opportunity and ability to articu
late
one's
life philosophy.
Enhanced
understanding
and
appreciation
of the American
heritage, way
of life and
democratic government.
Establishment
of
dependable
accountabil
ity" tools to discover, measure and
compare
proposed changes relative to basic ideas.
Over the years, the true meaning of rights and
freedom - the true meaning of the American
dream,
the
American SYSTEM -
has become
blurred.
It
will
be
even more smudged
in
the next
two years
by
Communists and their fellow travel
ers whose ambition is
to
trample
our rights and
destroy freedom.
If
we don't want the American
dream
to
become
a Communist nightmare,
we
must act now
Already, the Communists and their cohorts
are
mounting a nationwide propaganda
campaign
to
transform
celebration of
the 200th Birthday of
our
Republic into a vehicle to
debase
the American
ideal,
to destroy our freedoms and our rights, and
to soften us for
eventual
totalitarianism. A left
wing
organization
calling itself the People's Bi-
centennial Commission" is busily trying to use the
Birthday
observance
to foment a new revolution"
intended to bring about fundamental changes
in
America." To give you an idea how
urgent
it is
for action to be
taken
to reinforce
and
firm up the
foundations of the real America, let me
present
a
few of the socialistic goals of this radical organi-
zation. Listed below, in language
taken
out of
propaganda pamphlets of this socialist outfit, a~e
objectives clearly demonstrating the way it would
unAmericanize America, the kind of alien Ameri
ca it would create:
Human values
are
placed
above property
values.
e
Economic
cooperation
is
substituted for com
petition
and
corporate profit.
e Personal interests can
be
identified with the
collective interest.
Health care for all people is
defined
as a
human right rather
than
a market-place
commodity going to the highest bidder.
Control
of the
economy
is
taken
away from
the very rich" and very few and returned
to the
hands
of
the
worker
and
consumer.
SEMINAR '76
has the
potential of becoming an
effective counter-action
to the
propaganda of
hate of
our fundamental
beliefs spewing out of
such sources as this so-called people's commis
sion.
It
will aid in the understanding so vital to
solving current attacks on our system.
So,
plan
now to
attend
the PRIVATE DOCTORS
INSTITUTE in April and
participate
in a unique
and
rewarding experience
- SEMINAR '76. If you
make reservations on
or
before March 16, the
Seminar
fee
will be
$42.50
per person. Thereafter,
it will be
$76.00 per
person. So don't
delay;
mail
the enclosed reservation form
today.
NOT EVERY SOCIETY IS BLIND
Not every medical society
is
blind to the grave
danger
to medical
freedom
embodied in the new
PSRO Law nor
hungry
to hear the rustle and clink
of federal dollars that will flow to PSROs organ
ized by medical societies but controlled by HEW
A special Projects Committee of the Lafourche
Parish Medical Society, Thibodaux, Louisiana, has
thoroughly
analyzed
this iniquitous law and
has
concluded that American
physidans
should under
take
all
possible legal means to repudiate and
repeal the PSRO law - a
concept
of rationed,
-
7/26/2019 AAPS News 1973
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poor
quality, second-class government medicine
by edict of the Secretary of HEW." Committee
members
agreed
there should be no coopera-
tion" by the medical profession with government
to implement this law (the course of action being
pursued by the American Medical Association
and
many other
medical societies).
Noting that the effect of the PSRO law will
be to ration
and
standardize medical care
for the elderly
and
indigent, the Committee
declared: "This law . . . will
change
the
physician from a professional to a techni
cian. Government medicine
is
to become
'cook book' medicine. It
is
shocking to the
physicians of this nation to learn
that
the
AMA
has
now
expressed
a desire to help
write the 'cook
book.'
"
The quality of medicine will
deteriorate, said
the
Committee. "The obvious reason being
that
the nature of
health
care is
such
that
it
can
never
be standardized or
provided in rationed quantums
in
accordance
with various illnesses
or
health
conditions
as
this
law
seeks to
do.
Such massive
waste
of physician
manpower
hours, diverted from
patient
care, to
be expended
in
paperwork,
com
mittee hearings, review proceedings, justification
for provision
of
services not
allowed
in
the
norms,
and
police inspection duties will
also
con
tribute to inferior medical
care and
to costs."
And finally,
the
committee concluded, physi
cian
collaboration
in the implementation of this
law (which I find to
be
an
astonishing
act of
pro
fessional masochism) will inevitably lead to expan-
sion of the PSRO Law, with its debasing controls
and stultifying standards, to the entire population.
COHEN,
WILBUR J.,
LOVES
T
Whenever
Wilbur
J.
Cohen
is
pleased
with a
newly
enacted
law affecting health
care,
you can
be
absolutely certain medical freedom
has
suffered
another staggering blow. No man has worked
more assiduously, nor with greater dedication, to
destroy
the free
institutions of medicine in America
by
the substitution of government controls. Wilbur
J. Cohen has been
and
still
is
a tireless worker
in
the vineyard of socialism. And Cohen
is
delighted
with the new Social Security Law P.L. 92-603) and
its PSRO
provisions.
He should be. This law fits so
neatly
into
the
socializers' concept of gradualism. They are
convinced -
and
nothing so
far
has
proved
them wrong -
that the
sure, certain
way
to
achieve
the goals of socialism, particularly
socialized medicine,
is
to do it gradually, a
bit
at
a time.
In a recent speech to the Group Health Assoc
tion of America (and no one can accuse that o
ganization of devotion to the cause of medic
freedom), Cohen praised the new law, particular
those provisions empowering the government
establish uniform standards for medical procedu
and qualification. Cohen's observations
were
pu
lish in
the November, 1972, GHAA publicatio
Group Health
and
Welfare News. Said the New
Cohen, who is now Professor of Education an
Dean of Education
at
the University of Michiga
praised the
cumulative effect of HR-1
P.L.
92-60
and said
it provided
an important
interim
st
toward the development of a national health s
curity
program
(which
is
another way of sayi
socialized medicine).
Those who think that a federal program for
insurance
against
catastrophic expenses isn't
a
bad idea
-
had better
beware Wilbur
J.
Cohen views it
as
another
step along the
path
of gradualism toward the goal of socialized
medicine and Wilbur
J.
Cohen knows where
of he speaks
REPRINTS
AVAILABLE
Reprints of "Medicine Without
an
Ethic," a
article
against abortion
which
appeared
in
th
journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society,
a
available from the Society, 1700 Josephine Stree
New Orleans,
Louisiana 70113.
STOP WASTEFUL GOVERNMENT SPENDING
Stop wasteful government
spending Resto
some semblance of fiscal sanity to governmen
Stop political interference in medical practice
Th
was the substance of AAPS, advice to a congre
sional subcommittee. Frank Woolley, AAPS Exec
tive Director, and your President testified th
-
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8/58
month
in
Washington before the Subcommittee on
Retirement, Insurance
and
Health Benefits of the
Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. Lib-
eral Democrat Rep. Jerome R Waldie of Californ
ia, is Chairman of the Subcommittee.
AAPS was
asked
to testify on why medical care
costs have risen so fast, whether government
should control costs, whether the American peo
ple
get
the best possible quality of medical
care
for their money.
Basically, we testified that:
Congress and the Executive Department,
more than anyone else,
are
responsible for
accelerating health
care
costs. By profligate
spending, the legislative a n d executive
branches have fanned inflation, driving up
all costs. Then, these two branches of gov
ernment have
used inflationary cost in
creases they created
as
an excuse for furth
er government intervention
in
medicine. The
Judicial Branch, up to now, has acquiesed
in
this unsound moneyu
attack
upon
our
system.
Medicare and Medicaid waste massive sums
of tax money and create a huge artificial
demand from the subsidized worried-well
which helps drive costs up.
e
Not only should government not try to in
stitute dictation and control under the pre
tense of controlling costs - which is the very
antithesis of Americanism - bu t Congress
should act immediately to eliminate pro
grams, such
as
Medicare and Medicaid,
which contribute to inflation and
create
artificial
demand.
Congress and the Executive Department of
the federal government
should recognize
the
fact
that
in
this
area they have
acted
without constitutional authority and have
adopted the position that it
is
legitimate
public policy to use force against individ
uals.
Congress should
be forewarned by
Britain's
experience. In pursuit the Utopian
dream
of
spending
itself rich
(and
playing universal
Santa Claus in the field of health), the pow
er of Britain has gradually collapsed.
e
The quality of medical
care in
the United
States
and its availability
is
unsurpassed
by
any other
nation. Political intervention
in
medical practice will surely blight prospects
for improvement. (See this News Letter, The
Case
For American Medicine,
by
Harry
Schwartz.)
PSRO
We have prepared an exhaustive analysis
in
question and
answer
form of the important provi
sions of P L 92-603 (HR-1), including Professional
Standards Review
Organizations.
This document
examines the law section
by
section and demon
strates, by its own language, how it
will
destroy
medical
freedom by
forcing doctors to
become
paid agents
of government, exercising police
powers over their colleagues, and how it
will
erode medical quality by forcing physicians to
practice medicine by government-dictated norms
of diagnosis and treatment. This Question and
Answer pamphlet has
been
mailed to you. It
is
vital that
you
study it carefully and take action
to implement suggestions of
what
to
do.
Most im
portantly, sign
the
Declaration of Loyalty to Medi
cal Ethics and Professional
Independence
which
makes it
clear that
ethical physicians
will
not col
laborate with Professional Standards Review
Or-
ganizations. Urge your colleagues to
declare
their
loyalty and
independence.
Additional copies of
the Declaration are
available
on request. Also,
take other action to
repeal
this Law which has no
basis
in
the Constitution. And if you think govern
ment can be reasoned with (as the AMA apparent-
ly does), ponder this frank threat by the highest
ranking physician in government, Merlin K Du
Val, M.D., Assistant HEW Secretary for Health,
in
an
interview with AMA's American Medical News
for December 25:
In effect, Congress
is
saying to the medical
profession, we will give you the authority
and resources you
need
to assure the public
that the medical
care
you provide Medicare
and Medicaid patients is appropriate and of
good quality.'
If
doctors fail
to
take this
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challenge seriously, if they fail to make
PSRO work, then I shudder to think what
could come next.
MARIHUANA
BROCHURE
AVAILABLE
An informative brochure on
marihuana is
available
from the Scientifif Information
and
Ed
ucation Council of Physicians, Inc., (SIECOP)
Lock
Drawer
249,
Melbourne,
Florida 32901.
HMO
BILL
AGAIN INTRODUCED
Rep. William
R
Roy, M.D., liberal
Democrat
from
Topeka,
Kansas,
has
once
again
introduced
his bill to make discrimination against private
medicine public policy of the federal government.
Roy's bill would authorize appropriation of a
third of a billion dollars ($333.4 million) of
the
taxpayer's money for planning, developing
and
operating
150 new prepaid
group
practices flying
under the false colors of Health Maintenance Or
ganizations. Dr. Roy's bill (HR-51, referred to
In-
terstate and Foreign Commerce Committee) would
also subsidize expansion of existing HMO's like
Kaiser-Permanente
and
Health Insurance Plan of
Greater New York. Is this a device to help bail
HIP
out of its recent financial troubles? Commun
ity
rating
would
be mandatory
for all HMOs re
ceiving federal funds.
Rep. John Dingell, Jr., borrowing liberally (ex
cuse the pun) from
that
monumental failure known
as
the British National Health Service, has drafted
and
introduced a bill to socialize medicine
in
this
country (HR-33). The Michigan Democrat is a son
of
the late and notorious John Dingell, Sr., co
author of the Murray-Wagner-Dingell
Bill in
the
l 940's, one of the earlier proposals for socialized
medicine.
Look for numerous bills to
nationalize
medicine
in
this 93rd Congress, including measures spon
sored by labor unions,
the
health insurance in
dustry, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, American Hospital
Association
and
the American Medical Associa
tion. Does
that
give you
an
idea how many true
friends the principle of freedom
in
this country
really has?
When
organizations like these
are
willing to sacrifice even a fraction of the
freed
of physicians, particularly the American Medi
Association, we
have been
pushed a long w
down
the road
to tyranny.
AAPS DOES HAVE
HELP
In
Medical News Report (MNR), Blasinga
Associates,
535
North Michigan Avenue,
Chicag
Illinois 60611, it
is
pointed
out that:
In what has to
be
history's classic example
of
legislative insult to a profession of the stature
of medicine, the PSRO law endows the Secre
tary of
HEW
with the wisdom to judge the
competence of physicians to evaluate the per
formance of their peers. The Secretary will
put physidan-organized PSROs on probation,
decide how much they are
capable
of doing
and
keep them on probation until he decides
they
are capable
of performing
peer
review.
And all the while,
added
MNR, physicians
will
be
forced to conform to norms of
diag
nosis
and treatment
dictated by HEW.
AID FROM
NEW
YORK
TIMES???
One of the last places the medical professi
would look for help
in
its struggle for freedo
would
be
The New York Times, whose support
political interference
in
private affairs
has
b
come
legendary.
Nevertheless, a member of t
paper's editorial
board,
Harry Schwartz, h
written a
book
in
defense
of American medicine
The Case For American Medicine - a book whi
attempts,
in
his words, to tell the other side
the story, to help turn the national discussion
medical-care
delivery into more of a
debate
a
less of a dreary repetition of inaccurate cliche
The
book
is
published
by
David McKay Co., In
New York.
The introduction flavors
the
whole book. Her
an
excerpt:
In his Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce d
fined a physician
as
'one upon whom
we
set o
hopes
when
ill
and
our dogs when well.' The d
inition
is
still
apt today, especially
if
we
apply
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to the total American medical system and not
merely to physicians. American medicine is now
at the height of its capability, providing more -
and
more effective - help to a larger number of
our
people
than ever before. At almost every point
along the frontiers of the fight against
death
and
disability, American physicians and medical re
searchers are the world leaders. They are setting
new
standards
of excellence in such diverse fields
as heart
and
kidney transplants, knee and hip re
placements, treatment
of leukemia and hyperten
sion, the prevention of
RH
incompatibility
and
the
application
of
new
weapons against
hyaline mem
brane
disease in newborn babies. Yet never be
fore has so ferocious an
attack upon American
medicine
been
mounted
as in
recent years,
an
attack that too often leaves the highroad of
reasoned
criticism and descends to emotionalism
and
misrepresentation.
This book, despite some obvious errors such as
that
nobody involved
had
anticipated a
sharp
rate of medical
care
cost increases, [due to
Medicare and Medicaid] and other unwise rec
ommendations for a national health insurance
plan, contains fine ammunition to answer the at
tack on our system. I urge you to get a copy
quickly and put
the
well substantiated parts to
good
use, i.e., publicity, local college
debates
answering attacks in local press, radio and TV.
ESSAY
CONTEST
Doctor Hugh
S.
Ramsey (Bloomington, Indiana),
Chairman of the
AAPS
Freedom Education Com
mittee, is once again conducting the AAPS Harry
E.
Northam Memorial Free Enterprise Essay Con
test
in
the State of Indiana. He asks that members
in other states use the Indiana Plan to conduct
local and
state
contests until ten srote contests are
activated to enable the Association to sponsor it
as a National Event and offer cash prizes.
The Essay Contest was relatively successful in
educating the young of the nation in
the
value of
the American free enterprise system, including the
practice of private medicine.
We
urge
that
you
contact
Dr.
Ramsey, Indiana Headquarters,
420
East First Street, Bloomington, Indiana
7
401, to
receive information
about
the Indiana Plan
and
enlist the
aid of
your colleagues to sponsor the
AAPS Essay Contest in your area.
BOUND
AAPS NEWS LETTERS AVAILABLE
Bound copies of
the
1972 AAPS News letters
and Bulletins are
available
for $1.50 a set from
the AAPS office. This, too, is excellent ammunition.
Please order and use.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I
hope
our TV never gets like Russia's.
Over
there it watches you.
For Freedom,
Robert
S.
Jaggard
M.D.
President
Enclosure: PRIVATE DOCTORS INSTITUTE
brochure
PRIVATE DOCTORS
INSTITUTE
APRIL 12-15, 1973, DRAKE OAKBROOK HOTEL
ANNUAL
MEETING
OCTOBER
11-13, 1973,
SAN
FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
ASSOCIATION
OF AMERICAN
PHYSICIANS AND
SURGEONS
2111 Enco Drive. Suite N 515. Oak Brook . Illinois 60521 312/325
7911
Frank K Woolley. Executive Director
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TH E
VOICE FOR PRIV TE
D O TO R S
Index No.
February, 1973, Volume 27, No.
The Real Crisis - Debauching the Currency - Not Medical are
IS AHA Girding for AMA Showdown on
PSRO?
AMA Tries to Plead Not Guilty
PSRO Is a Four-Letter Word
Dr Roche Speaks at April Meeting
Resolutions Must
Be
in
Before March 23
A Champion of Freedom Dies
JCAH
Invites Recommendations
Cohen Wants
AMA
t Sell Doctors on National Health Plan
California Chapter Gets Moving
Not a Bad Idea
THE REAL CRISIS - DEBAUCHING
THE
CURRENCY - NOT MEDICAL CARE
Government plunderers have forced another
devaluation of the dollar; the second
in
1 4
months. Political double-talk
is
polluting the air
ways to hide the fact that government
is
robbing
Peter to pay Paul. Now the politicians are blam
ing speculators when wild, irresponsible govern
ment plunder is the cause. The howls
and
snarls
of rage which we have heard and seen over tele
vision by the political plunderers, at even the
suggestion they stop the rate of increasing gov
ernment waste and spending, should awaken
every honest producer of goods and services to
the truth. Unless we stop the political plunderers,
they will completely destroy freedom here as their
ilk have done elsewhere. The place for us to start
fighting the plunderers with all our strength, mor
aHy
and
legally, is to defeat the fradulent efforts
to force the nationalization of medicine upon us
Let s expose
PSRO
and
HMO
for
what
they
are
-
frauds. Let s strengthen AAPS to increase resist
ance to more government - come to Oak Brook
April 12-15
and
help strengthen our cause. Much
more than medical freedom
is
at stake. Going
along with government plunder to get along can
only result in disaster. Now
is
the time to act.
IS
AHA GIRDING FOR AMA SHOWDOWN
ON
PSRO?
The
American Hospital Association
is
movin
quietly
and
unobstrusively in a direction whic
strongly suggests that it may
be
swiftly girding fo
a show-down contest with the American Medica
Association for dominance over the legally de
creed nationwide network of Professional Stand
ards Review Organizations. The
AHA is
pushin
hard for rapid development of a new program o
hospitol-based peer review - entitled Quality As
surance Program. There is documentary evidenc
available that
AHA is
carefuly structuring thi
program so that QAP committees can possibl
qualify as PSROs The American Medical Associa
tion, on the other hand, tried gnd failed to ge
Congress to provide in the law (92-603) that med
ical societies or organizations set up by medica
societies would serve as PSROs Since that failed
AMA
has publicly announced
that
it intends t
seek a dominant role over establishment of PSRO
and the drafting of
PSRO
regulations.
A lengthy, 11-section QAP manual put
out by AHA makes it clear
that
QAP
program goals are identical with those
of the PSRO law - to assure third-party
payors (government, labor unions or in-
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surance carriers)
that
services they pay
for are (1) medically necessary, (2)
delivered in the most economical
way
by
using the least expensive facilities
and services available
that will
assure
the same or
better quality of care,
and
(3)
are
in conformity to criteria of opti
mal use as determined by the physi
cian's peers.
The
AHA
has
advanced,
as
a justification for de
veloping QAP programs in hospitals, a provision
of the law (92-603) which requires a PSRO to use
the services and
accept
findings of utilization re
view committees of hospitals as long as HEW
ap-
proves of the arrangement. That, of course, is a
reasonably persuasive argument to the credulous
for developing working review programs in hos
pitals.
But the AHA manual on QAP indicates with
equal persuasiveness
that
AHA has something
else
in
mind. That something else is creation of
PSROs
rooted
in
hospitals. The manual says
that
a
PSRO
area would encompass approximately
300 physicians.
It
then suggests
that
smaller
hos.
pitals might wish to establish QAP programs as
shared services. The manual adds this significant
sentence: It is also possible that
if
this shared
service utilization review program between hos
pitals involved
300
or more physicians, the pro
gram itself could qualify
as
a
PSRO
And
if
300 or more physicians
are
involved at a single
hospital, wouldn't that one hospital also have an
equal chance to qualify
as
a PSRO?
AHA
has reported
that
the QAP pro
gram has already
been
implemented in
hospitals in several states and is rapidly
gaining acceptance
in
others. Physicians
should be aware that AHA proposes to
push forward throughout the nation a
program in hospitals that encompasses
the principle of
PSRO
and applies it to
the entire hospital patient population -
not just Medicare and Medicaid patients.
The QAP program, says AHA's manual,
is designed to cover
Q
hospitalized
patients.
If it comes to pass that QAP committees do in
deed
become PSROs,
will
the same norms of
diagnosis and treatment forced on physicians for
the
care
of Medicare and Medicaid patients be
come standard for 5 patients?
The
PSRO
Law (92-603) stipulates that PSRO's
must be organizations of physicians. The QAP
committees, therefore,
will
be composed of mem
bers of the medical staff of each hospital. How
ever, with many hospitals' By-Laws subordinating
medical staffs to hospital administrators, such
PSROs could turn out to
be
sorry peer review
mechanisms.
The Louisiana State Medical Association re
solved, through its Executive Committee, to reject
totally the concept of QAP and to so inform all
members of the association.
AMA
TRIES
TO
PLEAD NOT GUILTY
While officials of AHA are regularly conferring
with officials of
HEW
and
pushing onward with
their QAP progrom, whot is the AMA doing?
AMA has called for a moratorium on establish
ment of
PSROs
until more information, includ
ing rules
and
regulations regarding implementa
tion of PSROs, is known. The AMA is also
feverishly trying to disavow any responsibility for
PSRO.
An
editorial
in
American Medical News,
Jon. 29, 1973, described it os a mossive, com
plex, difficult -
and
unwanted - piece of legis
lation. Said the editoriol: ''When this legislation
was under consideraton by the 92nd Congress,
the American Medical Association questioned
whether o government operated program of
mandatory
peer
review geored in
large
part to
cost control could be effective without reducing
the quality of patient
care.
In order that the record may be kept
stroight, it should be recalled th
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If
it were appropriate for the AMA to sponsor
mandatory
review geared
in
large part to cost
control"
in
1969
and
1970, why was it anathema
as the Bennett Amendment (which became the
PSRO
law - 92-603) when it was under considera
tion
in
1970, 1971 and 1972? Another important
question
is:
"If
the
AMA had not sponsored a bill
to establish compulsory government-controlled
peer
review in 1969, would the subsequent Ben
nett Amendment have
been
drafted? In other
words: "If the
AMA
had
not planted
that
seed,
would the medical profession now
be confronted
with the evil demands of PSRO?"
The AMA did not oppose the objectives of
PSRO,
as made
clear by William 0. LaMotte, Jr.,
M.O., Chairman of the
AMA
Council on Legisla
tion,
in
testimony before the
Senate
Finance Com
mittee
in
September, 1970. Praising the AMA's
PRO Dr. laMottee
added
that PSRO has a sim
ilar objective and such is indeed auditory." He
said AMA
opposed
only certain provisions of
PSRO.
His testimony brought this comment from Sen.
Wallace
Bennett, the Utah Republican: "Since
am the
author
of 1he PSRO amendment and, of
course, since the AMA should know
that
the basic
concept behind the amendment
is
theirs, it seems
to me we
are
talking about details of operation
and
not principles."
Neither Dr. laMotte nor members of the AMA
staff with him disputed Senator Bennett. In fact,
Dr.
LaMotte added:
'We
certainly commend you
(Senator Bennett) for your interest and your un
derstanding of this problem
and
your willingness
to support an amendment for a structured peer
review mechanism."
Even though AMA officials planted
the seed, we can hope their pu
Ii
c
prayers for a
crop
failure are sincere.
On
the record, we will have to wait
and
see if it is just another case of
one
step
back in preparation for two steps for
ward into the public trough and for
more nationalization of medicine.
AAPS
PAMPHLET
ON
PSRO
Order copies now for members of your Society
so physicians can learn the truth without double
talk. Reprints available now: One copy - free;
2 to 10 - 75 cents;
11
to 5 - 5 cents each;
51
and
over -
4
cents each. Plus postage for all
quantities.
PSRO IS A FOUR-LETTER WORD
Enclosed with this News Letter
is
a reproduction
of an editorial which indicates that there are still
influential physicians who thoroughly understand
the odious provision of the
PSRO
law
and
who
are
not taken
in
by the blandishments of the collabor
ationists.
This
editorial from
the January
issue o
the Journal of the
Oklahoma State
Medical
As
sociation by the OSMA President, 5. R. Mccamp
bell, M.D., is a clear and thought-provoking reci
tation of the evils of this treacherous law.
DR.
ROCHE SPEAKS AT APRIL MEETING
George C. Roche, Ill Ph.D., one of the nation's
youngest college presidents, will
be
the banque
speaker
for the AAPS Private Doctors Institute
in
April. At 37, Dr. Roche has won a nationwide
reputation as a leading exponent of the conserva
tive cause. Not only is he a college president, a
position he assumed at Hillsdale College, Hills
dale, Mich., two years ago, he is an historian
economist, author and lecturer. Dr. Roche, who
will discuss "The Moral lmperotive of Freedom"
at
the
AAPS
meeting, was Director of Seminars
for the Foundation for Economic Education for
five
years before
becoming President of Hillsdale
College
May
8, 1971.
His
contribution to the lit
erature of conservatism includes "Legacy of Free
dom," a study of the philosophic and moral un
derpinnings of Western civilization, and "Fred
eric Bastiat: A Man Alone,"
a
biography of the
famous conservative French economic journalist.
Bring a student:
It
is highly recommended that all of
you who will
attend
the sessions of
SEMINAR '76 on April 14-15 bring an
outstanding student to participate in this
unique experience.
As
explained in the
January News Letter, SEMINAR '76 pro
vides an imcomparable opportunity for
deeper understanding of your funda
mental beliefs.
If
each member brings a
student, some twigs may
be bent
in the
direction of liberty.
RESOLUTIONS MUST BE IN BEFORE MARCH
23
It
must be strongly emphasized that regular res
olution for the April Institute must be submitted to
AAPS
Headquarters
in
Oak
Brook on
or
before
March 23, or 20 days before the frist day of the
Meeting,
as
provided in the By-Laws. According
to the By-Laws, only resolutions of an emergency
nature can be accepted after March 23. Pertinent
resolutions
are
solicited.
A CHAMPION OF
FREEDOM DIES
A strong and tifeless worker for medical free
dom, Benjamin
0.
Gitlitz, M.D., an AAPS dele
gate and a former president of the Wyoming
State Medical Society, was killed recently in a
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14/58
plane
crash
near
the Cheyenne Municipal Airport.
At the time of
the
crash, Dr. Gitlitz was flying a
patient to a Cheyenne hospital from Thermopolis
where
he
had practiced medicine for
30
years.
Dr. Gitlitz was 62
years
of age. Just the night be
fore
his death he was
awarded
the
annual
Thermopolis
Chamber
of
Commerce Man of the
Year Award
in
tribute to his stature
as
a physi
cian and
his
myriad contributions
to
civic affairs.
He will
be
missed
as
a friend
and
as
a warrior
in
the
endless
battle ogainst
those who would des
troy
our
profession.
JCAH INVITES RECOMMENDATIONS
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Hos-
pitals
has
invited
AAPS
to offer suggestions, criti
cisms and recommendations on
the
Commission's
surveys, standards, etc.
This
represents
an
unusal
opportunity for
AAPS
to
mt1ke
constructive sug
gestions and recommendations to JCAH for
im-
provement of patient care. If you have any sug
gestions
or
if you would like to serve on an
AAPS
committee to develop proposals for
the
Commis
sion, please notify AAPS headquarters.
COHEN WANTS AMA TO
SELL
DOCTORS
ON
NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN
Regularly
in the
past, AAPS has
warned
physi
cians
that
part of the grand design of the social
izers is to seduce medical societies into becoming
willing collaborators with those whose ultimate
goal is destruction of medicine's freedom. Now,
confirmation of
the
warning comes from none
other than Wilbur J. Cohen, one of this century's
most
dedicated
devotees of socialized medicine.
In an
interview
in the
Washington Post published
February 4 1973, Cohen observed that
in
his
opinion the power of the AMA reached its
peak
in
1950 and has been declining since.
In
a moment
of frankness, Cohen added:
I
would not like to
see the
AMA
completely eliminated from some
position of power
and
influence, because the
essence of making a new national health plan
work is to gain the
acceptance
of the individual
practitioner.
The success of
that
long-time strategy
is nowhere more evident than
in
the
blind eagerness of the
AMA
to become
a collaborator
in
implementing
that
in
iquitous honor known
as PSRO.
(Hasty
action by
AMA
at
Cincinnati by voice
vote adopting the Board of Trustees re
port
Z).
CALIFORNIA
CHAPTER GETS MOVING
The California
Chapter
of AAPS
is
having Con
gressman
Phil
Crane
- who last addressed the
National Meeting of the
AAPS in
Richmond, Vir-
ginia,
in
September, 1970 -
address
its Annual
Meeting the night of March 10th
at
Disneyland
in
Anaheim.
This
is something
that
every California
member
will
want
to attend
and
it also suggests
what
other
State
Chapters might do
in
up-grad
ing their annual program.
Contact
Walter
Buerger, M.D., Secretary-Treas
urer of the
AAPS
California Chapter,
at
252 West
Badillo St., Covina, California 91722, for further
information.
NOT A
BAD IDEA
The Wall Street Journal recently commented:
In
Locri,
in
ancient Greece, legislators who pro
posed new laws were required to appear with a
noose
around
the neck.
If
the proposal were re
jected, then penalty was death by strangulation.
Small wonder no laws were introduced for
200
years.
Robert
S. Jaggard
M.D.
President
Enclosures: Reprint from Oklahoma
State
Medi
cal Association
Reservation
Card
PRIVATE
DOCTORS
INSTITUTE,
APRIL
12-15, 1973,
DRAKE OAKBROOK HOTEL, OAK BROOK, ILLINOIS
ANNUAL MEETING, OCTOBER
11-13, 1973,
SAN
FRANCISCO,
CALIFORNIA
ASSOCIATION OF
AMERICAN
PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
2111 Enco Drive. Suite N 515. Oak Brook Illinois 60521 312/325
7911
Frank K Woolley. Executive Director
-
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BULLETIN
NO. 1-73
EMERGEN Y ULLETIN
ASSOCIATION
OF
AMERICAN PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
INC
2 Enco Drive. Suite N 515. Oak Brook . Illinois 60521
312/325 791
Robert
S. Joggard,
M.D., Presiden
Frank
K
Wooll~y. Executive Direct
Index
No.
3
February 21, 1973
AAPS proposes to sue the federal government to stop
interference
in
the
practice of medicine. The following Press Release was released
today
for publicatio
PRESS RELEASE
Legal
counsel has been retained by the
Association
of American Physicians and
Surgeons to explore the possibil i ty
of
suing the federal government to prevent t
from interfering
in
the practice
of medicine.
This need for l i t igat ion by the
doctors
against government was
occasioned
by a new law
authorizing
so-called
Professional Standards Review Organizations.
Under
this
law (P. L. 92-603) signed October 30, 1972, government
employees
and
not
the patient 's
doctor
would
finally
control
medical
decisions on a
case-by
case basis.
As
might be expected, elaborate, expensive and top-heavy
organizationa
machinery is established
by the law
to
hide
the fact
that iron-fisted control
is
vested in the Secretary
of HEW
and
his
agents.
The Association
of
American Physicians and Surgeons
AAPS)
is a
nationwide
Association
of
independent doctors interested in retaining their freedom to
use
their best ethical
professional
medical
judgment
solely
for
the benefit
of
their
patients. These doctors SEEK NO FEDERAL SUBSIDIES and are
concerned with
other
medical
organizations which do. The
reason
for this
concern
is
they realize
government
subsidy
means government
control.
The
President of AAPS,
Dr. Robert
S. Jaggard of Oelwein,
Iowa,
in announcing
the
decision
of
the
Board
of
Directors
also said:
The
new
law would force
physicia
to just i fy their medical decisions
to
federal employees and conform to governmental
dictated standards of diagnosis and treatment for Medicare and
Medicaid patients .
He added
that
forcing physicians
to
conform to computerized norms
of
care on the
basis of averages, as decreed by government
clerks
without regard
to
the uniqueness
of each individual, would be a
tragedy.
This would mean that
physicians
would be
forced
to provide Medicare and
Medicaid
patients with
second-class
medicine. He
went on
to
say that this could
lead to-such
bureaucratically dictated medicine
being
applied to everyone which is what 'National Health
Insurance
would mean.
''The Board
of
Directors
of AAPS,
11
Dr.
Jaggard
said,
''welcomes
support
from
any
s ta te or local medical society in
resist ing government interference
in
the
practice
of
medicine.
I t is assumed
by
the Association, i t
will
be necessary
to
take
the case
to
the Supreme Court and i t is prepared to go that
far in
an effort to
maintain
the
freedom
of physicians
and
their patients.
TO
DO
See that your local
medical
society, newspaper, radio
and
TV station
have
this information. Use pamphlet on PSRO and ii;tformation in
November ,
December and
January News Letters
to suppleme:p.t
press
re lease Check
with
Publicity Chairman
of
your State
AAPS
Chapter .
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T H E V O I C E OR
PRIV TE
D O C T O R S
Index No. 4
March, 1973, Volume 27, No. 3
Attend Private Doctors Institute
March 23
is
Resolution Deadline
AAPS ISMA
May Sue Government Over PSRO
Upholds Physician-Patient Privilege
8 Dr. Quinlan Denied Staff Privileges
i1
Rape of Taxpayers
9
Californians Dissatisfied
New Insurance Program Available
ATTEND PRIVATE DOCTORS INSTITUTE
There
is
a crisis
in mf;ldicinel
~u
it s not
what
the planners
and
collaborators
say
it
is.
It
is
not a crisis
engendered
by poor qual
ity and excessive cost. Americans are the bene
ficiaries of
the
best medical
care in
the world,
and
they get far more fo~ their health
care
dollars then
they did
20
or 30 years ago No, that s not the
crisis. The crisis is
that
all Americans - patients
and physicians alike -
are about
to lose the bene
fits of the world s best medical system. The crisis is
that
the federal government, unless it can be
stopped,
will
soon destroy the foundation upon
which our peerless system rests: Freedom - the
freedom of physicians to use their judgment and
knowledge and skill, and the tools of the pro
fession, to serve the best interest of their patients
without interference from government bureau
crats or
anyone
else.
That s
what
it will
mean
to each of
us and
to
all
of
our
patients
if
the
gov-
ernment proceeds
with
enforcement
of
the iniquitous
Professional Standards
eview
Organization law (P.L.
92-603).
If
you
want
to know
what
you
as an
individual
physician
can do about
this law and
what
mem
bers of AAPS
can do
together, I urge you to
at-
tend the Private Doctors Institute April 12-15
at
the Drake
Oakbrook
Hotel
at
Oak Brook, a sub
urb of Chicago. The PSRO law and
what
it will
mean to you
and
your patients
will be
thoroughly
discussed
at
this most important meeting, and so
will
other schemes to destroy medical freedom.
You
can
take part
in
discussions and decisions
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that
can
profoundly
affect your
future. These dis
cussions
will
cover such subjects as "Hospital In
terfering with Medicine," "Law of Hospital vs.
Physician Liability," "Interference in Medicine by
Government," and "Compulsory National Health
Insurance."
There
will
be
bonuses for you for
attending
the
Meeting. First, George C. Roche
Ill
Ph.D., gifted
young President of Hillsdale College Hillsdale,
Michigan, and a true conservative, will discuss
"The Moral Imperative of Freedom"
as
the Ban
quet speaker. Second bonus will be SEMINAR 76
during the last two days of the Institute.
SEMINAR
76
is
a unique kind of concentrated citizenship
workshop guaranteed to be an exciting and un
usual self-discovery experience.
With
your medical freedom
in
jeop-
ardy this
Institute
is one you should
not miss. Several reservation forms
have
been
mailed
to
AAPS members
You should
have
received another one
within
the
past
few days. DON T
-
LAY:
MAIL A
RESERVATION
IN TO-
DAY.
MARCH
23
IS RESOLUTION
DEADLINE
Don't hold up resolutions for the Institute Reg
ular resolutions, according to AAPS By-Laws, must
reach Association
Headquarters
in Oak Brook no
later than
20 days
before
the first
day
of the
Meeting. The deadline
is
March 23.
AAPS-ISMA MAY
SUE
GOVERNMENT OVER PSRO
AAPS announced it has retained legal counsel
to
explore
the possibility of suing the
federal
government to prevent the government's interfer
ing with the practice of medicine
by
implementing
PSRO. Subsequently, it
was
disclosed that the
Indiana State Medical Association
is
so disen
chanted
with PSRO that its Board of Trustees has
directed ISMA President fomes
H.
Gosman, M.D.,
to seek legal counsel to study the possibility of
filing a class action suit on
behalf
of member phy
sicians to block enforcement of the PSRO law.
AAPS Executive Director Frank K. Woolley has
written
Dr.
Gosman offering to join forces in this
endeavor.
UPHOLDS
PHYSICIAN-PATIENT PRIVILEGE
Thomas G. Dorrity, M.D., Immediate Past-Presi
dent of AAPS, and Executive Director Frank K.
Woolley testified
before
a special subcommittee
of the House Judiciary Committee in opposition to
a proposed new rule of evidence that would
abolish the physician-patient privilege in all fed
eral
court proceedings.
Only
exception would be
communications between
patient
and psychiatrist.
DR. QUINLAN DENIED STAFF PRIVILEGES
Donald Quinlan, M.D., Northfield, Illinois, Pres
ident-Elect of AAPS, has
had
his staff privileges
at
St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago terminated be
cause he refused to sign, without qualification, a
statement presented to him
by
the administrator
which would
have had the
effect of authorizing
the Board of Directors to amend the by-Laws
concerning the medical staff without
approval
of
the staff. Dr. Quinlan, who has had staff privileges
at
St.
Joseph
for
l O
years
and
has served on the
Executive Committee,
has
engaged legal counsel
to
obtain
judicial review of the hospital's decision
if
litigation becomes necessary to restrain the
hospital from arbitrarily changing the medical
staff by-laws without uncoerced approval of the
staff. AAPS has encouraged
Dr.
Quinlan
because
the line must be
drawn
against the growing trend
among hospitals of arbitrarily insisting the phy-
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sicians
subordinate
themselves to administrators
in
matters involving medical judgment.
HMOs - GET-RICH-QUICK
SCHEME
The
advocates
of
tax
subsidies for developing
and
operating health
maintenance
organizations
(HMOs) may
be
promoting a monstrous get-rich
quick s.cheme. Imagine the possibilities that will
unfold for fast-buck con artists, cleverly
and
shrewdly making promises
they
don't intend to
keep,
if
Congress
enacts the
Roy bill to pick
tax
payers' pockets for a third of a billion dollars for
developing HMOs. The Kennedy bill to blow up
to 3 billion
of
tax
dollars on
the same pretext
is
fantastically more profligate.
It
boggles the mind.
Enormous opportunities will open
up
for
the
unscrupulous to set up HMOs with premediated
intent to harvest
huge
profits by giving the
least
service possible
at the
highest capitation fees
the
traffic will bear. The very nature of this scheme
makes this kind of taxpayer rape more than just
a speculative possibility.
Anyone
who
is skeptical
of
these
statements should read a letter written
by Harold M. Cohen,
M.D., Chief
of
Staff
of
Pacoima Memorial Lutheran
Hospital, Lake View Terrace, Cali
fornia, to the California
Department of
Health Care Services about misrepre
sentations
and
poor quality care given
to
Medi-Cal patients
by
North
Valley
Medical Group, an HMO
which
is a
division
of
Consolidated Medical Sys
tems, Inc. Consolidated is a subsidiary
of
HMO International.
Dr. Cohen's letter documents cases in which
representatives of the North Valley Medical
Group
engaged
in
various misrepresentations, including
the
false statement
that
it was a new
plan
re-
placing Medi-Cal,
in
order to persuade people
to sign-up.
ut
worse Dr. Cohen also documents
cases in which North Valley subscribers were
forced to go to emergency departments of area
hospitals because North Valley wasn't open and
then North Valley tried to
get
the
patient out
of
the hospital
or
refused to
pay the
bill.
For example, Dr. Cohen cites this case:
A
child,
age l, very moribund child, was admitted to
Pacoima Memorial Lutheran Hospital with staph
pneumonia
and
hemoglobin
of
5 grams. The
North Valley Medical Group was not available.
if the staff doctor
had
not admitted this child, it
would have
died.
The attending physician
. . .
was called daily by the North Valley Medical
Group to discharge
the
patient
since hospitaliza
tions were too expensive; in spite
of
the
attending
physician's explanation that the prognosis was
grave.
(Emphasis ours)
Another year-old child of a North Valley sub
scriber was
admitted
to a hospital
as an
emer
gency
case suffering
bacterial
pneumonitis with
meningismus. Child might have died if refused ad
mission.
When
North
Valley
was
billed for medi
cal services, they denied
the
claim since 'the
child's application
had
not, been processed.'
(Emphasis ours)
The responsible medical community continual
ly has to 'bail this group out' to prevent tragedy,
said
Dr. Cohen. The responsible citizens
and
responsible medical community feels this group
is
dangerously
misrepresenting its benefits
and
es
pecially its capability; its care
of
the patients has
been negligent
and
dangerous, relying on emer
gency rooms and the community physicians to bail
it out. If this group
is
not censured immediately,
countless
people
will
be deprived of adequate
care
and
suffer morbidity
and
mortality.
You may be tempted to dismiss Dr. Cohen's
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statements as exaggerations of a medical doctor
who was disgruntled because his hospital was
losing a few bucks on some patients it didn't want
to take care of in the first place.
If
so, consider
the fact
that
Dr. Cohen's letter
is part
of a com
prehensive report on the deficiencies of the Cal
ifornia Medical Group, another HMO
that
is also
a subsidiary of
HMO
International. The report
was prepared by the California Council for Health
Plan Alternatives. The California Council, signifi
cantly,
is
an
organzation of
labor
unions through
out the state.
In a letter transmitting a copy of this report to
Thomas L Young, Chairman
of
the Health
and
Welfare Committee of Teamsters Joint Council
42,
the California Council's Executive Director,
Thomas G. Moore, Jr.,
had
this to say:
Our experience in making this eval-
uation
leads
moe
to one overriding con-
cern: CMG represents a
new
and
rapid-
ly growing form
of
profiteering medical
care organization designoed to exploit
our members, the poor, and anybody
else who becomes a member. (Em-
phasis ours) Roesponsible
union
leaders
should not only protect their member-
ship from this kind
of
organization but
should actively oppose the growth
of
these programs
in the community at
large. I
think the
reasons
for
this con-
cern are clear
in
the report.
The report was signed by Moore
and
by Lester
Breslow,
M.D.
who
is
Dean of the School of Pub
lic Health at the University of California at Los
Angeles and Co-Chairman of an Advisory Com
mittee to the California Council for Health Plan
Alternatives. The report
is
lengthy. Here
are
its
highlights.
Ratio of physicians to population to be
served by the California Medical Group
is significantly less than other well-estab
lished pre-payment group practice plans.
Futhermore, the physicians employed by
CMG
on the whole have substantially
low-
er
professional qualifications than Cali
fornia physicians generally,
with 40
having
graduated from foreign medical
schools
or
schools
of
osteopathy generally
known as
not
meeting the standard of
U S.
medical education.
The ratio of
qualified specialists
is
even worse. Report
notes there are no obstetricians and the
equivalent of only two pediatricians for
110,000 subscribers, among whom a high
proportion are children. (Emphasis ours)
(Only the most naive would
miss
the
point
that
the
way
to make money from
an
HMO is to restrict services, cut down on
staff and by
any
means at hand get as
many subscribers
as
possible to provide
the revenue. A government subsidy, dir
ect or indirect, would serve to put a thick
layer of frosting on the financial cake.)
The decision to hospitalize
at
CMG
is
done by committee, except in emergencies.
That decision is made by a general prac
titioner
and
two other physicians under
him. One must question whether this
is in
the best interest of the persons served,
observed the report.
CMG provides half or less hospital care
than other well-recognized prepayment
group practice plans and this extremely
low use of' hospital care by
CMG
raises
the question whether needed hospitaliza
tion
is
actually being provided by CMG to
its prepaid enrollees.
Subscribers
are
assigned to one of 21
clinics which would
appear
to offer the
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convenience of accessibility. Fact is how
ever, that evening and weekend coverage
is available at only 7 of the 21.
There appears to be a high rate of
physician turnovE;lr and certain clinics
have
only
one or
two physicians on the staff. In
addition,
CMG
is
mixing some
30,000
fee
for-service patients in with their commer
cial
and
Medi-Cal
prepaid
patients.
It is
worth noting
that
where this situation has
existed, it
tends
to bring on conflicts, with
prepaid patients usually the one short
changed.
CMG told investigators it m a i n t i n s
quality through
an
automated
peer
re
view system. But when questioned about
norms// used
as
quality criteria, CMG in
sisted outside standards - those in the
community in general - were not appli
cable to its physicians. CMG physidans'
performance
was
measured
only against
CMG
11
norms
of
which,
said the
report,
11
we were unable to obtain more precise
delineation.
11
Various
and
sundry liberals in the
hierarchy
of
labor, in Congress, is
the
press and elsewhere
have been trying to make the world believe that
HMOs will prove to be the nirvana of health care.
And Kaiser-Permanente has often been held
aloft
as the standard upon which to judge them all. A
couple of sentences buried in this report written
by
an
organization
of
labor
unions
may
well
tarnish that shining
halo
accorded
the
Kaiser
type operation.
Over the years,
Trust Funds
(source
of labor's health
and
welfare
money)
have become increasingly aware of sub
scriber dissatisfaction with Kaiser ser
vices. Difficulties in making appoint
m-ents, lengthy waits to see physicians
even with
appointments, and hurried,
impersonal
physician
contacts
are com
mon
complaints.
These may
all be as
cribed, to
one d-egree or another, to less
than
ideal physician/population ratios.
In
spite of this highly critical report, California
Health
and
Welfare Agency glossed
over th
specifics of the criticism and renewed its approva
of CMG for Medi-Cal patients.
CALIFORNIANS DISSATISFIED
Labor union criticism of
the
California Medica
Group and
Kaiser
is
not the only evidence to sup
port the long-standing contention of AAPS tha
prepaid group
practice
by whatever name
is
n
health
panacea
but is, on the
contrary,
a devic
to control the doctor
and
short-change the patien
In
a news story on the state's approval of CMG
the Los Ange les Times noted that it is one
of
abo
25 HMOs contracting with the
state
to furnis
health
care
to Medi-Cal patients.
11
Many o
these state
contract plans, said
the Times, hav
recently
been
subject
to
heavy
criticism
by
som
of their patients
and
by organized labor.
11
Another
group
reportedly
lost its
contract
be
cause of hank-panky with members of the Legi
lature in obtaining the contract and because o
ficers insisted on using unaccredited hospita
owned by the organizer of
the group.
On top of all this, disenchanted
Medi-Cal patients, formerly cared for
by physicians of th-eir
own
choice) now
have
grown weary
of
poor service from
the
HMOs
and are
dropping
out
in
in
creasing numbers. Los Angeles County
Medical
Association
has
sent
out a call
to
its members
to volunteer for service
to these patients who now
want
to re
turn
to the
superior care
formerly
pro
vided by their
own
private
physicians
through Medi-Cal.
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Said LACMA in a letter to members: The dis
enrollment procedure may take as long as 90
days. During this period the patients may not
have a Medi-Cal card and may not have a phy
sician to
go
to for care. These patients need phy
sicians who will volunteer to see them during
the
disenrollment period should they need care.
If
labor union leaders are
becoming
disillusioned liberal members of Con-
gress who are blindly pushing
this
dub-
ious scheme
should
take heed. Hope-
fully common sense will prevail over
political expediency.
All the above information was submitted by
AAPS Executive Director, Frank K. Woolley, to the
Subcommittee on Health of the House Interstate
and Foreign Commerce Committee during hear
ings on HMO legislation earlier this month.
NEW INSURANCE PROGRAM AVAILABLE
AAPS will make available a $300,000 Catas
trophe Major Medical Insurance Plan exclusively
to Association members. Catastrophe
Major Medi
cal Insurance Plan is the newest form of Hospital
Medical-Surgical Insurance.
It
provides protection
against
those truly serious accidents or sicknesses
that result
in
catastrophic expenses. Basic Hospi
talization and/or Major Medical Insurance pro
vides for the normal hospital-surgical-medical
protection, but not catastrophe protection.
It was for that reason that the $300,000 AAPS
Catastrophe
Major Medical Insurance Plan
was
developed. It is intended to compensate for costs
beyond those covered by basic insurance. After
a $15,000 deductible, this new
plan
takes over
and pays 100% of eligible expenses up to a max
imum of $300,000 for up to
5
years.
Premiums
are
extremely low. For example, a
member under age 4 will pay less than $25.00
annually for this important umbrella protection.
Complete details of this new plan
will be
sent
to members. Check your mail
or
write to our
In-
surance Administrator - Albert H. Wohlers Co.,
AAPS Group Insurance Plans, 720
Garden
Street,
Park Ridge, Illinois 60068.
A new organization is forming
