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Originally Posted by redsfan11
I would argue that most professional organizations (AMA for doctors, ABA for lawyers) perform the same function as unions.
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This is partially true but mostly false. In a handful of states the local AMA/ADA etc works for protectionism by making it hard for out of state practitioners to get a license there. Florida, Arizona come to mind. Hawaii and CA just recently changed to be open. That is very union like.
Also they will lobby at the state and federal level to an extent, but their strength is pretty weak and there is no real push to have its members vote any direction. Also you don't need to be a member of the AMA/ADA to be a doctor, and there are no laws or rules that prevent you from working if you are a non AMA member.
Also price fixing is illegal for the work we do. It is not legal for a group of doctors in an area got together and say 'We will charge no less than X for this procedure'. I'm not sure what law it is, but I was warned many times about it. Like all laws, in some places this may be broken, but in my area its very well followed and I'm not aware of the pricing of most of my competitors.