Will doctors continue to support health care mandate?

As many of the nation's physicians gather at a convention in Chicago this weekend, one of the most controversial issues on their agenda is continued support of the "individual mandate," a key part of President Obama's health care overhaul.
"It will be intensely debated," said Dr. Lori Heim, a North Carolina family physician who travelled to Chicago for the annual meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA), the nation's largest physicians group.
AMA support for the Affordable Care Act, and specifically the individual mandate, which requires that nearly all Americans purchase health insurance, was seen as important in setting the stage for its passage last year.
"AMA's support was and is more significant with respect to PR than legislative politics," said Heritage Foundation health care expert Edmund Haislmaier.
Of course, the Obama administration is facing dozens of legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act, including one brought by Republican governors and attorneys general from more than two dozen states that's now before the federal appeals court in Atlanta. Those challenges will almost certainly be decided by the Supreme Court, perhaps as soon as next year, according to CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.
In light of the fact that the battle has moved to the courts, it's not clear what real world effect a change in position by the AMA would have, though it would certainly give more fuel to opponents of "Obamacare" going into the 2012 elections. Haislmaier said it would also weaken the White House narrative that the Affordable Care Act is "settled and everybody needs to get on board with implementation."
Members of the AMA on both sides of the issue said the debate within the organization mirrors the larger national discussion about the health care law and the individual mandate.
"In the same way that you're seeing this debate being played out in the political arena, similarly you have people on both sides of the issue in the AMA," said Dr. Robert Sewell, past president of the American Society of General Surgeons, a medical group that opposes the individual mandate.
Heim, board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians, which supports the mandate, agreed. She said the issue has played out along political party lines among physicians just as it has in society at large.
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"Although I think the individual responsibility will get the support it deserves," she said. "I think it will be intensely debated."
Heim added she believes a majority of AMA members support the individual mandate. "Most physicians want to see a change in health care in the nation," she said.
"If you think about it in terms of individual responsibility," Heim said. "We want patients and the public to be responsible about their health. They also need to be responsible about health insurance."