Local docs unmoved over Obama outreach == 'They don't care about patients,' one physician said of administration

Local docs unmoved over Obama outreach == 'They don't care about patients,' one physician said of administration

ANTHONY DeMATTEO
anthony.dematteo@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 08/27/09

If the reaction of a dozen Flagler Hospital physicians to a health reform conference call among the White House and about 1,900 physicians throughout the country is a trend, President Barack Obama has a tough sell among many wearing long white coats.

"This was an advertisement for the Obama campaign," Dr. Warren Kluger said after the conference call, as his wife rushed to turn down the speakerphone's volume while a White House official was making final comments. "They don't care about patients. This was an outrage. And anybody who sees it any other way has permanent brain damage."

The call, broadcast Tuesday night in a Flagler Hospital meeting room, included a handful of questions from doctors, answered mostly by moderator Dr. Kavita Patel, director of policy for the Office of Public Engagement in the Obama administration.

Many of the local physicians attending the conference call said before it started that they opposed what they knew of the proposed congressional health reform plan, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.

After the call was over, they remained unmoved.

Kluger, a vascular thoracic surgeon in Florida for 35 years, began practicing medicine in his native Canada. He is convinced that despite repeated denials, the Obama administration is determined to model America's health care system after Canada's, which he said is one of the world's worst.

"They want socialized medicine," Kluger said of the administration. "I've had individuals in my family who have lived in Canada, who are dead, who could have been treated for a few dollars -- could have been treated in the worst hospital in the United States by a third-year medical student and be alive today."

The conference call cannot be quoted directly because the Office of Public Engagement said Wednesday that the call was "off the record," although it appeared to break no new ground from positions already outlined by the White House. The reaction of the physicians, however, was on the record.

Many of the St. Augustine physicians lost interest in the call a little more than halfway through, when Patel reiterated Obama's stated position against placing caps on medical malpractice judgments. That drew jeers from her audience as doctors began to talk among themselves, drowning out dialogue on the call.

"You heard the laughter when she {Patel} talked about his position on malpractice reform," said Dr. Douglas Dew, chairman of the Flagler Medical Executive Committee.

Before the call, Dew said he hoped to hear more specifics about the health plan.

"I didn't get any of that," Dew said after it was over.

Dew said he thinks something needs to be done to cover a group of uninsured people in a "gap" -- mostly those 10 years or fewer short of Medicare eligibility.

"That is a gap we need to fill," Dew said. "But it should be done under the existing plan."

Because of what he said are uninformed statements from Obama about unnecessary tonsillectomies and overblown estimates of surgery costs, Dew said he does not trust the president to lead on health reform.

"When you have somebody so misinformed about tonsillectomies and amputation {reimbursements}, how can you trust what he says is true?," Dew asked.

General practitioner Dr. Barry Dobies said he thinks the number of uninsured Americans -- often stated as more than 40 million -- is misleading because it includes illegal aliens and those who choose not to purchase insurance. Dobies said he supports the effort to eliminate insurance companies denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, echoing colleagues who said they do not want insurance companies dictating patient treatment.

"There's no question we have the best health care in the world, and our patients will agree," Dobies said. "And people have access to it -- even people who can't afford it, or don't have insurance or the ability to pay."

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