By Daniel Carter Public Policy Analyst, The US Report January 26, 2026
Years ago, former American Medical Association (AMA) President Dr. Donald Palmisano issued a warning that was dismissed by the establishment as alarmist. His prediction? That overall patient care would inevitably become “worse under government”—regardless of which party held the pen.
He warned that once you insert a bureaucrat between a doctor and a patient, you don’t get efficiency; you get rationing.
Today, as we parse through the details of the Administration’s newly unveiled “Great Healthcare Plan,” it is clear that Palmisano wasn’t just a critic; he was a prophet.
The “Great” Illusion
The 2026 rollout of the “Great Healthcare Plan,” spearheaded by CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and heavily influenced by the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) framework, was supposed to be the antidote to the failures of the Affordable Care Act.
Instead, it is shaping up to be the same poison in a different bottle.
While the branding has changed, the mechanism remains the same: Centralized Control. The new plan’s reliance on “AI-driven efficiency” to determine coverage is just a high-tech version of the old HMO gatekeeping. We were promised that technology would liberate doctors. Instead, physicians are now reporting that they spend more time arguing with algorithms than treating patients.
The “G” Factor: Government vs. Care
Dr. Palmisano’s core thesis was simple: Government has no business practicing medicine.
In 2026, we are seeing exactly why.
- The Shortage is Real: We are currently facing a deficit of over 80,000 physicians. Why? Because the government has made the practice of medicine miserable. Bright young minds are looking at the mountain of compliance paperwork and the declining reimbursement rates, and they are choosing finance or tech instead.
- Rationing by Another Name: The new “Transparency” mandates sound good on paper, but in practice, they are driving independent practices out of business, forcing them to sell to massive hospital conglomerates. The result? You have fewer choices, and your “local doctor” is now just an employee of a mega-corp answering to federal guidelines.
A bipartisan Failure
It is uncomfortable for my Republican friends to hear this, but replacing a Democrat bureaucracy with a Republican one does not solve the problem.
Dr. Palmisano warned us that “overall care will be worse under government.” He didn’t say “under Democrats.” He said Government.
Whether it is the “price controls” floated by the populists or the “mandates” loved by the progressives, the result is the same: The doctor-patient relationship is severed.
The “Great Healthcare Plan” of 2026 may have a better marketing team than the ACA did. It may have celebrity doctors attached to it. But until we actually get the “G” out of the exam room, the prognosis for American healthcare remains critical.
