News & Analysis 

Once again the venerable AMA HOD (House of Delegates) convened in mid-June in Chicago for its Annual Meeting. Medical societies from every state and territory were represented, as was nearly every conceivable medical specialty. There were also medical students, residents and fellows, and young and old physicians. Emergency physicians were well represented by ACEP’s 4 delegates,  4 alternate delegates and by AAEM’s representative. There are also some 60 additional emergency physicians and Medical Students involved in the Emergency Medicine Section Council who also represent other entities in the AMA, such as state societies, residents and fellows, young physicians, and organized medical staffs.Once again there were a potpourri of resolutions to be considered, some of them noteworthy and broadly applicable but many of them narrowly focused on pet causes. The hottest topics dealt with healthcare reform and the proposed “public option” insurance plan, tort reform, and various CMS funding issues.

House of Delegates debates “medical homes,” voluntary call, the SGR formula, among other topics.    

How to have a greater impact on election results

On Tuesday, July 15, 2008, both the U.S. House and Senate voted to override the President’s veto of H.R. 6331, the “Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008.”