It's a fundamental debate about what is in the public good." ĭuring the 2016 cycle the AMA political action committee spent $2 million with "direct contributions to 348 physician-friendly candidates (58% Republican and 46% Democratic)". As a possible reason Jim McDermott offered, "politically conservative physicians were more likely to chafe at the direction of changes in health care, with greater oversight by the government and a more regulated role for the private sector.
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In 2013, three quarters of physicians in Congress were Republican, and 80% as of 2017. Kelley Paul, wife of Rand Paul said in 2015 when he made his 2016 White House bid, "Being a physician gives Rand a unique perspective in Washington, simply because he's trained to diagnose a problem and find a solution." Party membership Jim McDermott was quoted as saying "They want to have their hands right there on the handle so they can pull it one way or another." Physicians "balked at the idea of lawmakers with no medical experience making decisions that could upend the profession", per Andy Harris. Tom Coburn said, "physicians have watched the profession undergo tremendous realignments that are shifting doctors' responsibilities away from patient care, changes they attribute to the government's inefficacy". Possible explanations for the increase since the 1990s have been increasing health care spending, increased health care reform debate in the United States, leading up to the Healthcare Reform Act. The number of physicians serving and running for Congress has risen over the last 50 years from 5 in 1960, down to 3 in 1970 and a nadir of 2 in 1990 up to 10 (2000) to a maximum of 21, including one female physician, in 2013, as of 2015, there were 18, and as of 2017 a small decrease to 15 physicians. ĭuring the first 100 years of Congress (1789–1889) 252 (or 4.6 percent) of 5405 members were physicians. Likewise two (5 percent) of the 39 individuals crafting the US Constitution in 1787 were physicians.
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In 1776, 11 percent of signers of the Declaration of Independence were physicians.
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9 Physicians in political positions outside Congress.2.2 Gender, geography and medical specialty.Physicians in Congress have received large campaign contributions from health care trade associations and from peers through physician associations such as the AMA.
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In public opinion research by the American Medical Association (AMA) from 2013, voters rated "understanding of the problems facing our healthcare industry, including the bureaucratic red tape that is strangling health care providers and driving up the cost of health care for most Americans" as the most convincing statement of a physician candidate for Congress. Possible explanations for this development have been increasing health care spending, increased health care reform debate in the United States, leading up to the Healthcare Reform Act. The number of physicians serving and running for Congress has risen over the last 50 years from 5 in 1960, down to a nadir of 2 in 1990, to a maximum of 21 in 2013 and a decrease to 14 in 2017. Physicians in the United States Congress have been a small minority of the members of Congress, with fluctuating numbers over the years.