
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 8, 1990                   TAG: 9003081510
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

AMA URGES HEALTH CARE REFORMS

The American Medical Association unveiled a sweeping package for health care reform Wednesday that would require businesses to provide medical insurance to all workers, expand health care for the poor and limit malpractice lawsuits.

Funding of the 16-point plan would "almost certainly" require new taxes, Dr. Alan Nelson, president of the AMA, said. Although AMA officials declined to put a total price tag on the plan, Nelson estimated that one aspect - expansion of federal health programs - could cost $30 billion annually. Other AMA officials privately estimated the potential costs at more than $60 billion.

Last year's resounding repeal of a program to treat catastrophic illnesses among the elderly appeared to have dimmed prospects for expanded health care. However, the AMA's plan is considered significant, particularly because of the group's clout with Republicans.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Labor and Human Resources Committee that oversees health issues, called the AMA report "just what the doctor ordered."

The AMA plan, announced at a news conference, covered common ground with that of a congressional commission, which last Friday also called for expanded coverage for the poor and a slightly different form of mandated employer insurance. Unlike the commission, which proposed a government program for long-term care, the AMA instead called for tax incentives to encourage private insurance coverage of nursing home stays.

The congressional group, known as the Pepper Commission, came under fire for failing to say how it would raise the $66.2 billion its plan would cost the federal government.

Responding to that criticism, Nelson said: "The debate must be centered on what is needed and then deal with how to pay for it."

Under the AMA plan, Medicaid would be extended to every individual below the poverty line. Now, the AMA said, Medicaid reaches only 40 percent of the poor. An estimated 31 million to 37 million Americans are uninsured.

The AMA plan also calls for Medicare to be taken off the federal budget and "pre-funded" in a special program to make sure it can pay for itself into the year 2030, when it is estimated that for every two workers, there will be one retired person relying on Medicare.

by CNB