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The healthcare debate is at the center of each of the presidential candidates' platforms. As the next generation of physicians, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest, independent medical student organization, calls on all candidates to focus their plans on patients.

In response to Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) recently announced

healthcare plan, AMSA National President Dr. Michael Ehlert says, "Forcing

the 47 million uninsured Americans to purchase health insurance will not

solve the problem. Having health insurance is not the same as access to

quality health care. We need to go back to basics and reform the current

for-profit managed care system."

The United States has the most advanced medical treatments and

facilities, but it is the most expensive per capita and it only provides

mediocre health outcomes compared to other industrialized nations. AMSA

recently announced its 2008 election platform, which includes details to

provide affordable, quality healthcare for all. Specifically, AMSA supports

a single, public, national health insurance program that will cover all

necessary medical, dental and mental health services for all U.S. citizens.

"Future health professionals have a responsibility to re-establish U.S.

leadership on healthcare," continues Ehlert. "In the coming weeks, all of

the presidential candidates and many organizations will be announcing

healthcare platforms. As the nation's next generation of physicians, we

must look at these platforms very carefully. While everyone may want to

solve the problem, each tactic is different. Very few proposals adequately

address the problems of the health care system."

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently announced its "Voice

for the Uninsured" campaign. "The AMA plan involves market-driven reform,

in which competition among the health insurance companies will supposedly

lead to reduced healthcare costs that will be passed on to consumers," says

Flavio Casoy, AMSA Jack Rutledge Fellow on Universal Health Care and

Eliminating Health Disparities. "This proposal is misguided. It does not

focus on providing access to health care; rather, it emphasizes the

expansion of insurance coverage."

For more than 57 years, AMSA has advocated on behalf of universal

health care, both on a federal and state level. This weekend, medical

students from across the country will gather at AMSA's 6th Annual Universal

Health Care Leadership Institute.

About the American Medical Student Association

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), with more than a half-

century history of medical student activism, is the oldest and largest

independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States.

Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization

committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. With more

than 68,000 members, including medical and premedical students, residents

and practicing physicians, AMSA is committed to improving medical training

as well as advancing the profession of medicine. To learn more about AMSA,

our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us

online at http://www.amsa.org/.