US doctors' group to help uninsured Americans get health insurance

The largest U.S. doctors' group will help uninsured Americans get health insurance.

Photo: US doctors' group to help uninsured Americans get health insurance

The American Medical Association calls its campaign "Voices for the Uninsured" and placed full-page color ads promoting it in Thursday's New York Times and USA Today.

The AMA's solution includes tax credits and increasing federal funds to expand government programs.

The group's president-elect, Dr. Nancy Nielsen, said some people assume the uninsured all are homeless or unemployed.

But today, they're "your own families or your working neighbors," she said at a Washington, D.C., news conference.

The AMA is spending $5 million (3.75 million EUR) on the initial campaign, timed to coincide with the upcoming presidential elections. It will involve newspaper, television and radio ads in early primary states including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. It will go national next year and will include lobbying Congress to pass legislation to "fix this national problem."

The AMA joined other interest groups earlier this year including AARP and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to advocate for helping the nation's 45 million uninsured.

The United States is one of few western nations that does not have universal health care.