The American Medical Association’s recently released 2008 annual report showed profits at the association dropped 89.8% in 2008 to $2.5 million from $24.4 million in calendar year 2007.
The AMA’s revenue dropped 2.6% to $282 million from $289.5 million in 2007; general and administrative expenses rose 7.9% to $226.1 million from $209.5 million; and membership decreased about 2% to about 236,000 from 241,000. It was noted that, although its profit margin was slimmer, it was the ninth-straight year the AMA finished in the black.
The AMA also reported that its reserves fell to $284.8 million compared with $337 million in 2007 as the market value of the AMA’s investment portfolio dropped by $77.8 million.
In April, the AMA announced that it would eliminate 100 selected open and existing positions from its 1,200-employee staff. The financial results of these job cuts are not calculated in the 2008 report. The AMA declined to comment on the report, citing a policy of not pre-empting discussion of informational reports being presented at its annual House of Delegates meeting. The meeting is being held June 13-17 in Chicago.
