Congress froze the number of Medicare-supported residency slots at 100,000 under the Balanced Budget act of 1997 [1]. The cap remains in place to this day, despite a massive shortage of physicians.
The AMA's official position in 1996:
"To decrease the rate of physician supply, limits must be placed on the number of medical school graduates entering GME [graduate medical education]. Since the federal government currently plays a major role in financing GME and is responsible for establishing immigration laws that affect IMG participation in GME in this country, it is imperative that the federal government partner with the medical education community to achieve this goal." [2]
The AMA worked closely with then Speaker of the House Newt Gringich to overhaul Medicare's relationship with physicians. [3]
The AMA is typically the biggest spender among lobbying groups in the health care sector.
Without getting into the details, it should be pointed out that:
* Mr. Assange hasn't been charged with any offense and denies any wrong-doing.
* He submitted to questioning by police in Stockholm in August, 2010.
* He agreed to further questioning in UK, something routinely done under UK's Mutual Legal Assistance system. Sweden refused for unspecified reasons [1].
* Mr. Assange has agreed to go to Sweden upon assurance that he won't be extradited to the US (an assurance the Swedish government has the legal authority to provide).
* "[Sweden] has a disturbing history of lawlessly handing over suspects to the US. A 2006 UN ruling found Sweden in violation of the global ban on torture for helping the CIA render two suspected terrorists to Egypt, where they were brutally tortured (both individuals, asylum-seekers in Sweden, were ultimately found to be innocent of any connection to terrorism and received a monetary settlement from the Swedish government)." [2]
* The physical evidence provided in the case does not implicate Assange in any way.
The AMA's official position in 1996:
"To decrease the rate of physician supply, limits must be placed on the number of medical school graduates entering GME [graduate medical education]. Since the federal government currently plays a major role in financing GME and is responsible for establishing immigration laws that affect IMG participation in GME in this country, it is imperative that the federal government partner with the medical education community to achieve this goal." [2]
The AMA worked closely with then Speaker of the House Newt Gringich to overhaul Medicare's relationship with physicians. [3]
The AMA is typically the biggest spender among lobbying groups in the health care sector.
[1] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/News/health/2005-03-02-doctor...
[2] http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/PolicyFinder/policyfil...
[3] http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/storage/Research%20-%20...