ABSTRACT
Physicians themselves and the larger American public see physicians as innocent bystanders of the current crisis in the US health care system. The arguments laid out in this chapter suggest that such a belief is not well founded. Physicians are the key architects of the US health care system that exist today. The company insurance model, fee-for-service, and the biomedical model that lie at the core of the US health care system dysfunction could all be attributed to the lobbying efforts of the American Medical Association. Physicians/medical professionals are the fourth largest spender on lobbying among 83 industrial sectors in the US economy. Physicians form the core of any health care system as all health care necessarily runs through them and the decisions they make. They have played a central role in structuring the US health care system the way it is. If it is dysfunctional, they need to accept at least part of the blame. But physicians tend to complain about the system as if they are the outsiders. Physicians are still resistant to change and are one of the most formidable hurdles in reforming the US health care system.
