MINNEAPOLIS, June 11, 2009 – On Monday, the MMA’s delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA) will hear President Barack Obama speak about the need for health care reform at the AMA’s 158th Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The MMA’s delegates are Raymond Christensen, M.D.; Kenneth Crabb, M.D.; Anthony Jaspers, M.D.; Paul Matson, M.D.; Sally Trippel, M.D., and John M. Van Etta, M.D. The MMA’s alternate delegates are John Abenstein, M.D.; Gail Baldwin, M.D.; Blanton Bessinger, M.D.; David Estrin, M.D.; David Luehr, M.D., and Benajmin Whitten, M.D.

In addition to working on other issues, the MMA delegation is co-sponsoring Resolution 416, which calls for the AMA to work with all state medical associations, state restaurant associations, state departments of health, and other interested parties to create a method for displaying calories on restaurant menus and menu boards for all food and beverage items.

But with Obama speaking, the topic of health care reform will surely dominate.

The AMA has called for the reform effort to include coverage for the uninsured, affordable private insurance, Medicare payment reform, antitrust relief, and medical liability protections. In May, the association pledged to Obama that the medical profession would work to reduce unnecessary costs by focusing on quality improvements such as developing best practices for care and improving medication reconciliation.