What is the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend Health Care?
The Ad Hoc Committee began in the winter of 1996 when a small group of physicians and nurses came together to write “For Our Patients, Not for Profits: A Call To Action” (published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, December 3rd, 1997). The Call articulates our deep concern about the bottom-line, market-driven models that are invading all areas of health care. As clinicians we have become increasingly alarmed at what is happening to our patients and to the integrity of our practice. We believe that the American public doesn’t fully understand the vast transformations that are sweeping over our health care system. We therefore feel an important role for the Ad Hoc Committee is to encourage a broad public dialogue about the structuring and financing of health care services that will influence each and every one of us–not only as professionals but as patients, family members and members of the human community.
