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• “I’m very committed to trying to make sure that the neediest among us can get access to care. There are 47 million Americans who lack health insurance so they delay or forego care, and that’s an absolute tragedy.”

  Nancy Nielsen, MD ’76, PhD

  President, American Medical Association (AMA)

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By Nicole Peradotto

Published: September 11, 2008

When Nancy Nielsen, MD ’76, president of the American Medical Association (AMA), characterizes the growing ranks of the uninsured as a moral problem the country must solve, she speaks with the voice of experience.

During graduate school, the student-health insurance policies that covered Nielsen and her then-husband did not extend benefits to their three babies. Nielsen paid for her children’s pediatric visits out of pocket, straining the young couple’s already tight budget. But it wasn’t until her second child experienced a medical crisis that she realized how shattering the health-care system can be for the uninsured.

After her daughter’s temperature shot up to 106 degrees one night, Nielsen whisked the 14 month old to the hospital. “I had very little money for the rest of the month, and I had to plunk down almost all of it before they would even put her in a room,” she says. “I remember how devastating that was.”

As one of the spokespeople for the AMA’s “Voice for the Uninsured” campaign, Nielsen carries that memory with her as she lobbies for major health reform.

Specifically, the AMA’s proposal includes the following components:

• Greater choice of health insurance options by individuals and families, including allowing individuals to choose and purchase their own policies. “That way, if you leave your employment, your insurance stays with you,” Nielsen says.
• Tax credits or vouchers for the purchase of health-care insurance that are inversely proportioned to one’s income.
• treamlined health-insurance market reforms that make premiums more affordable.

“This is what we think the country needs to talk about, and we think it’s time for this very serious conversation to lead to a solution for America,” Nielsen says. “Our AMA proposal is a major shift. It’s a shift away from employer-based health insurance, away from tax exclusions, and it’s a shift for insurers, who will have to market themselves differently.

“I’m very committed to trying to make sure that the neediest among us can get access to care,” she adds. “There are 47 million Americans who lack health insurance so they delay or forego care, and that’s an absolute tragedy.”

To read more about the AMA’s proposal go to www.ama-assn.org/ and search “proposal.”