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american medical association
10 Groups Who Can and Must Do More to Fight Trumpism
All these groups have diminished themselves and their real potential to generate strong direct democratic pressures and arouse the citizenry.
Sep 06, 2025
This column is a plea to our readers to help get responses from groups whose duties and rhetoric should cause them to become much more active in countering the fascistic, dictatorial actions of Tyrant Trump.
All these groups have diminished themselves and their real potential to generate strong direct democratic pressures and arouse the citizenry.
We can guess the answer as to why these groups are so meek, but what is needed is for these groups to answer for themselves. (I recognize that there are a few luminous exceptions among them.)
1. Why aren’t the Democrats in Congress, just a few votes from a majority, much more aggressive vis-à-vis the controlling Republicans and President Donald Trump? Voters are vociferously demanding this at town meetings.
Lawmakers in the minority can hold many informal or “shadow” hearings in congressional committee rooms on the rising disasters of the Trump regime. They can invite knowledgeable witnesses and the media. They have done fewer than half a dozen of these events, which have received media coverage.
Moreover, they could do what the GOP does regarding Democratic presidents: Start laying the groundwork for impeaching Trump and several of his lawless, dangerous, out-of-control cabinet members.
2. Why has the media, for years, excluded coverage of what newsworthy, progressive, proven national citizen groups are doing to give the people the kind of effective voice on Capitol Hill and around the country that led in the 60s and the 70s to health, safety, and economic protections by congressional legislation?
3. Why do the most progressive members of Congress—e.g., Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and lately even Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)—refuse to return calls or answer letters urging them to adopt policies and conduct hearings back in their states, to build support for congressional action? Their disrespect is astonishing and unheard of between the GOP and, for example, the Heritage Foundation.
Are we too busy with our daily work and routines to carve out time to join this historic struggle to save our country?
They will not go on our radio or podcast to discuss their new books or causes. Most of the time, they don’t even bother to acknowledge these invitations with a polite refusal. It’s like calling into a congressional dark hole.
This posture is cutting deeply into their own influence in Congress and severing contacts with progressive groups’ millions of members around the country.
4. The medical societies and bar associations are not costing the Trumpsters any lost sleep as the latter deepen their illegal destruction of federal public health and safety programs. Their brazen violations of federal laws and provisions of the Constitution reflect their Big Bad Outlaw in the White House.
These doctors and lawyers may be sullen but are largely silent when they have considerable muscle to flex. After all, the American Medical Association single-handedly blocked in Congress during the 1940s and early 1950s President Harry Truman’s universal health insurance plan.
We have written twice to 50 state bar associations saying that they should be the first responders against the destruction of the rule of law by raw power. No reply from any of these influential groups. (See: Letter to Bar Associations)
5. Trump is destroying labor unions’ collective bargaining agreements inside the federal civil service. He is the most anti-labor president in modern times, reflecting his past, exploitive business record.
Yes, the major labor unions have filed numerous lawsuits and on Labor Day managed some vociferous demonstrations around the country, without announcing a Compact for American Workers (see my last week’s column: LONG OVERDUE DOMESTIC COMPACT FOR AMERICA).
They could do so much more to deploy organizers for action all over the country, reaching deep into Trump’s blue-collar supporters to ask them about anti-worker Trumpism: “Is this what you voted for? How about some big demos in DC around the White House and Congress? How about old-fashioned mass worker rallies, demanding the presence of lawmakers?
6. I and others have written about the silence of former presidents, except for a few mild public remarks. George W. Bush despises Trump, especially for Trump wiping out his administration’s anti-AIDS program in less developed countries. He is silent as he continues his painting. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, where are they? With their large constituency of voters, they could activate thousands to push Democrats in Congress. With their fundraising skills and lists, they could raise quick money to start “Trump, You’re Fired” groups all over the country, tying the Trump brand to the awful, cruel, and vicious cuts, closings, and firings of federal servants, protectors, and scientists. They know he is destroying America and our constitutional Republic. So why are they AWOL, basking in their comfort zones, instead of being patriotically on the impeachment ramparts?
7. What about the enlightened billionaires? They know the score and can see an ominous recession coming. Easily, they could fund new “civic strike organizations” working on Congress and the executive branch to give a sharp, continuing voice to the people increasingly harmed and deprived in both red and blue states (e.g., fast approaching loss of Medicaid and food programs and much more). (See the Economic Policy Institute report, “100 days, 100 ways Trump has hurt workers.” April 25, 2025)
8. Given how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal Palestinian Holocaust is affecting our country’s violated laws, priorities, freedoms, safety, and tax dollars, why does the media adamantly refuse to more credibly report the vast death and serious injury undercount in tiny Gaza (the geographical size of Philadelphia)? Instead of showing probative evidence of over 500,000 deaths (leaving an improbable 3 of 4 Gazans still alive), they report the Hamas narrowly defined fatality figure of over 63,000.
Hamas does not count tens of thousands under the rubble or the far greater number killed due to “no food, water, medicine, healthcare, fuel, and electricity.” It only counts the immediately identified deaths of Israel’s daily bombardments. ( See, The Lancet piece “Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential” July 5, 2024). Editors and reporters know this, but they still are misleading their readers, viewers, and listeners using the Hamas de minimis figures as if they were the total fatalities from this Israeli regime’s mass slaughter of Palestinian babies, children, mothers, and fathers.
9. Then there are the Trump voters who, with few exceptions, have yet to admit that they have been conned big time by the cruel and vicious, egomaniacal, vengeful Trump. With Elon Musk, his smashing of the social safety net includes Trump voters big time around the country. Millions will soon lose their Medicaid, some veteran services, serious labor protections, and care for their children, to mention a few of his betrayals.
Trump voters need to keep reminding themselves, every time Trump shafts them, “We didn’t vote for this.” They knew he was a chronic liar, an abuser of women, a cheater and serial law violator, a promiser breaker from his first term, and a world-class BS-er. But they forgave this unstable personality because his speeches persuaded them that the Democrats had abandoned them. Well, now they have to face the grim realities and speak out collectively about what he is doing to them, his faithful supporters.
10. Then there is “US,” the citizenry. Are we too busy with our daily work and routines to carve out time to join this historic struggle to save our country? We have not seen the worst of what Trump is going to do, by any means. Take him at his word when he says repeatedly, “This is only the beginning.”
A dangerously unstable personality, Trump has expressed global fatalistic attitudes in past conversations. “Watch out and Step Up.” (Read my new book Civic Self-Respect to encourage you to join the 1% already active in the resistance.)
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Just Say No to AI-Assisted Medicare Preauthorization
A new AI-driven Medicare prior-authorization pilot could dramatically weaken Medicare, just another frightening step toward privatization and profiteering.
Sep 03, 2025
The odds are that if you have private health insurance or someone in your family has private health insurance, you have heard the dreaded phrase “we need preauthorization” from your insurance company. What this means is that your insurance company needs to approve in advance that your treatment or prescription is covered. In theory, this should be no big deal. However, reality is something else. But as the New York Times points out:
Private insurers often require a cumbersome review process that frequently results in the denial or delay of essential treatments that are readily covered by traditional Medicare. This practice, known as prior authorization, has drawn public scrutiny, which intensified after the murder of a UnitedHealthcare executive last December.
So, reading this you might think that you are glad that you or someone in your family choose traditional Medicare (in other words not a Medicare Advantage plan), so you would be able to avoid the “prior authorization needed” drama. Well, unfortunately you would be wrong as the prior authorization is slowly coming to Medicare. In late June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a press release:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing a new Innovation Center model aimed at helping ensure people with Original Medicare receive safe, effective, and necessary care. Through the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model, CMS will partner with companies specializing in enhanced technologies to test ways to provide an improved and expedited prior authorization process relative to Original Medicare’s existing processes, helping patients and providers avoid unnecessary or inappropriate care and safeguarding federal taxpayer dollars. This model builds on other changes being made to prior authorization as announced by the US Department of Health and Human Services and CMS on Monday.
In theory, this move by CMS does not sound bad. Who could be against reducing wasteful spending in Medicare and making sure that people receive appropriate treatment? A spokesman for CMS has been quoted that the government would not review emergency services or hospital stays.
The CMS prior Medicare authorization model is being rolled out in January 2026 as a six-year trial program in six states: Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington State. In theory, the preauthorization program will look at those medical treatments that are not of benefit to Medicare beneficiaries.
What CMS is not drawing attention to is that this preauthorization will be done by artificial intelligence (AI)—or as CMS puts it “enhanced technologies.” It is not until much later in the press release that CMS gets to the fact that AI will do the screening authorization:
The WISeR Model will test a new process on whether enhanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can expedite the prior authorization processes for select items and services that have been identified as particularly vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse, or inappropriate use.
CMS, at the moment, says that the AI preauthorization screening will be used on only an extremely limited number of procedures. But what guarantees do Medicare beneficiaries have? The bottom line is that you have to ask yourself: Would you be comfortable having your access to your earned Medicare benefits be determined by AI? My answer is a firm, “No, thank you.”
We also need to ask what are the financial incentives that Medicare is injecting into the system though preauthorization? It is hard not to conclude that this is a step toward privatization of traditional Medicare.
Healthcare professionals are concerned by CMS’ preauthorization program. In mid-July, the American Medical Association (AMA) wrote to CMS:
While the stated goal of the model is to curb wasteful spending and protect the Medicare Trust Fund, the mechanisms employed raise several significant issues that must be addressed prior to implementation. The AMA strongly urges CMS to pause the January 1, 2026 implementation of the WISeR Model to allow additional stakeholder input, full analysis of the model’s operational impacts, and development of clear guidance for physicians. Physicians should not be forced to adapt to such substantial administrative requirements without sufficient time to understand the implications and prepare. Absent this opportunity for meaningful physician and stakeholder engagement, the model risks creating confusion, administrative burden, and unintended consequences that could ultimately undermine CMS’ own goals to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse.
On Capitol Hill, a number of House Democrats led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have pushed back on the AI preauthorization pilot project. In late July, they wrote to CMS:
We understand that CMMI has intentionally selected healthcare services that are reported to have limited clinical value and may be vulnerable to abuse in the Medicare program, and we support efforts to ensure Medicare remains a good steward of taxpayer dollars. However, the expansion of AI-fuelled prior authorization will not improve program integrity in Traditional Medicare. Giving private for-profit actors a veto over care provided to seniors and people with disabilities in Traditional Medicare, even as a pilot program, opens the door to further erosion of our Medicare system. We therefore strongly urge you to immediately halt the proposed WISeR model and instead consider steps to address the well-documented waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare Advantage program.
The House Democrats raise a very intriguing question about why CMS is not focused more on fighting waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare Advantage plans? As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities reported in January of this year, there is considerable evidence to show that Medicare Advantage plans are overpaid by the government. It would make sense for CMS in pursing fraud and waste to follow the money which means looking at Medicare Advantage plans.
Give the political dynamics in Washington, it seems likely that the CMS preauthorization demonstration project will go into effect in January 2026. Then in the summer of 2026, with the midterm elections looming, as members of Congress will begin hearing from constituents who have had their earned Medicare benefits denied by AI, Congress will revisit this issue. It is tragic that in the meantime people will be hurt.
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Largest US Medical Lobbying Group Shuts Down Resolution to Back Cease-Fire in Gaza
The AMA has a responsibility to uphold the well-being of healthcare workers and minimize human suffering, and it is clear that these values are not being upheld," said Healthcare Workers for Palestine.
Nov 13, 2023
"Shame on the American Medical Association."
That was one American nurse's response to the news on Sunday that the powerful medical lobbying organization had shut down members' call for a public statement that would declare the AMA's support for "a cease-fire in Israel and Palestine in order to protect civilian lives and healthcare personnel."
As the news about the state of Gaza's hospitals grew increasingly dire over the weekend—with premature babies relying on incubators beginning to die due to Israel's blockade of the enclave's electricity and fuel supplies, and hospitals in northern Gaza forced to shut down completely—Dr. Hussein Antar spoke at the AMA's House of Delegates interim meeting on behalf of other medical residents and fellows who support a cease-fire.
Antar said he and other supporters of the resolution strongly backed the statement the AMA made last week calling on "all parties" in the conflict to "minimize the health costs of war on civilian populations" and condemning "the military targeting of healthcare facilities."
"But we believe the largest physician group in the United States can and should do more than that. This issue is too vital for us to evade discussion," said Antar.
Since the finalization of the statement and the meeting, MedPage Today reported, at least 60 medical workers had been killed by Israel's bombardment, which targeted at least six hospitals in that period.
In recent weeks, doctors and nurses who have refused to leave their posts despite the repeated airstrikes and Israel's ground attacks have resorted to performing Caesarean sections on pregnant women and other major surgeries without anesthesia, have been unable to properly sterilize medical instruments, and have been buying laundry detergent and vinegar to clean wounds due to the lack of supplies and electricity.
Despite the fact that Israel's onslaught has seriously endangered doctors and nurses and left them unable to perform their duties, the AMA's Resolution Committee recommended the statement not be reconsidered and said it did not meet the organization's criteria for speaking out about an issue affecting the healthcare community.
Those criteria, noted a U.S.-based nurse who uses the handle @travelingnurse on TikTok, include "advocacy, ethical considerations, and urgency."
"I reject any notion that calling for a cease-fire in Gaza—the most densely population piece of land on the planet, where half the population is under 15 years old, where the death toll has now reached 12,000 people, where there are tanks firing on hospitals—I reject that that is not advocacy, I reject that that is not urgent, and I reject that that is not an ethical consideration," said the healthcare worker.
Dr. Lisa Bohman Egbert, speaker of the AMA's House of Delegates, reportedly called on Dr. Luis Seija to stop giving his statement in support of the cease-fire resolution, as he reminded those at the meeting that "there are people in the room who have had friends and family killed both on the Israeli and Palestinian sides of this violence."
Former AMA president Dr. Andrew Gurman also opposed the resolution, claiming that since it dealt "with a geopolitical issue," making a formal statement was "in no way the purview of this house"—despite the fact that the AMA spoke out last week to condemn the targeting of hospitals in Gaza.
"There was a coordinated effort at the national meeting to shut the resolution down, with the speaker not allowing delegates their allotted 90 seconds to speak about the resolution," said Healthcare Workers for Palestine. "The largest medical group in the country actively silenced voices of healthcare workers supporting a cease-fire, saying 'it's not relevant to advocacy.' The AMA has a responsibility to uphold the well-being of healthcare workers and minimize human suffering, and it is clear that these values are not being upheld by some of the most influential physicians in the country, nor is the democratic process being respected."
Public health writer Abdullah Shihipar said the lobbying group silenced the discussion on the resolution, which failed to pass in a vote of 136-458, because leaders "know [the AMA's position] is wrong."
Shihipar shared an interview featuring Dr. Hammam Alloh, who worked at al-Shifa Hospital and was killed Saturday in an airstrike. Before he was killed, Alloh had explained to Democracy Now! that he would not abandon his patients to flee to southern Gaza with his family.
"This," said Shihipar, "is who the American medical and public health community refuses to stand with."
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