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The American Medical Association sounds like a wonderful name. In fact, it is simply a trade union with a lot of power. They lobby and donate to a lot of politicans to further their business interests. The AMA is perhaps the number one reason health care pricing is so high.
The AMA does two things. 1: They restrict the supply of doctors and 2: They reduce price transparency. These are both huge components of keeping the price high
The AMA is behind the complex coding system that doctors and hospitals use. Have you ever wondered why you can't figure out what you are being charged for? The medical records database uses a lot of codes that people don't understand. It keeps the public from being able to decipher what they are paying for. The public is frustrated by this system, but it has proven profitable for the AMA. According to the book Medicrats, they bring in 70-80 million dollars per year for the use of the system. Medical providers are forced to use the system
The famous economist Milton Friedman said, " It is clear that licensure is the key to the medical professions's ability to restrict the number or physicians who practice medicine. It is also the key to its aiblity to restrict technological and organizational changes in the way medicine is conducted". In his book, Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman writes a lot about the AMA calling them a succesful Medical Cartel. Friedman is a free market economist that believed licensure would not produce quality and that monopolistic medicine would be bad.
According to Wikipedia, Abraham Flexnor was hired to research and recommend how many Medical Schools to close. Wikipedia states, " Flexner sought to reduce the number of medical schools in the U.S. to 31 (there were 155 at the time), and to cut the annual number of medical graduates from 4,400 to 2,000. A majority of American institutions granting MD or DO degrees as of the date of the Report (1910) closed within two to three decades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexner_Report
This Flexnor report was some time ago, but things haven't changed. An economist at the Mises institute and members of congress have confirmed they are still limiting the supply of physicians.
Forbes magazine called the AMA an evil organization. You can read about it here: http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/25/american-medical-association-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html
You can call the AMA. They don't respond to you. They don't want to talk to you. If you don't believe me, call this AMA general phone number 312-464-5000 and ask about these issues.
A good website to look up how much they donate and who they donate to is called MoneySecrets.com. Here is a snapshot of how much the AMA donated to candidates in 2014.
There is currently a bill in congress to increase the supply of physicians: S1148 and H.R. 2124. These bills are new versions of the same bill from 2009 that never went anywhere. There are a lot of sponsors of the bill, but it is consistently defeated. Interestingly, democrats support the bill generally and republicans don't. The AMA donates to a lot more republicans than democrats.
You can see the bills at www.congress.gov. Another good site is finance.senate.gov.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2013/07/17/How-the-Doctor-Cartel-Sets-Medical-Prices
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/july_august_2013/features/special_deal045641.php?page=1
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/08/how-ama-price-fixing-distorts-health-care.html
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/monsocost.htm
http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/content/ftc-doctors-price-fixing-wont-fly?page=full
price fixing warning: http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-07/news/mn-997_1_public-warning
ftc price fixing https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/dealings-competitors/price-fixing
ama ethics https://archive.ama.org/Archive/AboutAMA/Pages/Statement%20of%20Ethics.aspx