AMA
Strategic Concepts & Mechanics
Primary Evidence
"the nation’s doctors delivered “the best medical care in the world.” Unfortunately, only the very wealthy could afford it; and the federal government underwrote care for some of the indigent. Middle-income Americans faced economic disaster in the wake of serious illness. Huntley did not blame the AMA alone, but he stressed that its leaders opposed most prepaid plans for allegedly “promoting socialized medicine.” Huntley quoted Garfield on his chief philosophical difference from the AMA: “To the private physician, a sick person is an asset. To Permanente, a sick person is a liability. We’d go bankrupt if we didn’t keep most of our members and their families well most of the time.” 27 Huntley clearly sided with Garfield and Associates."
"the nation’s doctors delivered “the best medical care in the world.” Unfortunately, only the very wealthy could afford it; and the federal government underwrote care for some of the indigent. Middle-income Americans faced economic disaster in the wake of serious illness. Huntley did not blame the AMA alone, but he stressed that its leaders opposed most prepaid plans for allegedly “promoting socialized medicine.” Huntley quoted Garfield on his chief philosophical difference from the AMA: “To the private physician, a sick person is an asset. To Permanente, a sick person is a liability. We’d go bankrupt if we didn’t keep most of our members and their families well most of the time.”27 Huntley clearly sided with Garfield and Associates."