News in brief - July 11, 2005

No change in AMA dues for 2006 - AMA membership decline slowing, ranks show more diversity - AMA seeks to coordinate disaster relief - AMA to study medical student insurance policy - AMA profits up again in 2004 - AMA supports expanding Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund - AMA will study e-mail as a member benefit

No change in AMA dues for 2006

The American Medical Association won't raise membership dues.

At its Annual Meeting in Chicago in June, the association's House of Delegates voted to keep dues for regular members at $420 annually in 2006. Physicians in their second year of practice will continue to pay $315; physicians in the military will pay $280; physicians in their first year of practice will pay $210; residents will pay $45; and medical students will pay $20.

AMA membership decline slowing, ranks show more diversity

The American Medical Association reports that it had 244,530 members in 2004. That's 2.5% fewer members than in 2003. Membership has been declining for a number of years, but in recent years the rate of decline has slowed. For example, in 2002 membership declined 6.4% to 260,455, and in 2003 membership declined 3.7% to 250,830.

The AMA said it was on track to continue to quell the decline in 2005. Year to date, there are more full-dues-paying members than last year at this time. Also, the Association said it was showing more signs of diversity within its membership this year, with a 6.3% increase in women members and a 6.1% increase in the number of young physicians joining.

AMA seeks to coordinate disaster relief

Last year's tsunami in Southeast Asia and other international and domestic disasters are prompting the American Medical Association, over the next six months, to develop a plan to work with other organizations in future disasters.

The AMA also will create a plan to help coordinate domestic and international donations and physician resources.

Delegates at the AMA Annual Meeting in June directed the Board of Trustees to present the plan at the Association's Interim Meeting in November.

AMA to study medical student insurance policy

Medical students scrounging to find affordable health insurance could get help from the American Medical Association. The AMA will work with the AMA Insurance Agency to investigate whether it's feasible to develop a health insurance plan tailored to medical students.

Delegates to the Association's Annual Meeting in June said the plan should be affordable, continuous, hassle-free and more comprehensive than a catastrophic plan. A report on the feasibility is expected at November's Interim Meeting.

AMA profits up again in 2004

With a $39.8 million operating profit in 2004, the AMA marked its fifth straight year of operating in the black. The financial turnaround follows three years of operating losses in the late 1990s.

The 2004 operating profit was nearly double the $20.1 million operating profit the Association reported in 2003.

Business operations -- which include books and products and the Insurance Agency -- generated $9.1 million more than forecasted. Meanwhile, dues revenues were $300,000 less than projected, and expenses were $900,000 less than forecasted.

AMA supports expanding Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund

Physicians at the American Medical Association Annual Meeting in June approved a resolution that called on the Association to support the expansion of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund to include any vaccine recommended for use in the adult population.

The fund was established in the late 1980s as a way to provide a no-fault approach to protecting both vaccine manufacturers and health care professionals from liability in cases involving injury from vaccines. While it was originally designed to cover vaccines given to children, the Dept. of Health and Human Services also has said claims may be filed by adults who receive vaccines on the list.

Hepatitis A and influenza were recently added to the list of covered vaccines, leaving only the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine as uncovered for adults. A Board of Trustees report said protecting new vaccines for adults is important to decrease manufacturers' risk and to encourage new companies to enter the market.

AMA will study e-mail as a member benefit

The American Medical Association will study the feasibility of giving members a lifetime e-mail address, something that medical students say would be particularly helpful to them as they move around the country during their years in training.

Physicians at the AMA Annual Meeting in June suggested that the e-mail addresses also could be helpful in contacting physicians during a public health emergency.