The new president of the American Medical Association appears to have confused or complicated the organization’s position on a public health insurance option during a CNN interview.

Dr. J. James Rohack, a physician in Texas who became president of the largest doctors’ group in the nation June 16, said in a live interview Wednesday (July 1) with CNN’s Tony Harris and Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen that the group wants people who lack health insurance to be put into the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan, the insurance program for federal employees and members of Congress.

“If it’s good enough for Congress, why shouldn’t it be good enough for individuals who don’t have health insurance provided by their employers,” Rohack said in the nine-minute interview.

A call for comment from the AMA was not returned.

The AMA has historically battled government insurance programs, including Medicaid and Medicare, because they provide doctors with lower reimbursement rates than private insurers and require more paperwork.

In May, the AMA told a Senate committee it opposed calls from President Barack Obama and several members of Congress to create a government-run, public health plan option that would compete with private insurance companies. In June, Obama spoke at the AMA’s annual convention in Chicago, explaining the need for reform and asking them to support reform efforts.

In the interview, Rohack said the association does not want the government to have to create another health system. The AMA “will look at any option” for reform. “We are for whatever we can achieve,” Rohack said.

The AMA will back any proposal that provides choice, “pluralism,” the ability for physicians to practice and eliminate waste, Rohack said in the interview. He called the current system of care in the U.S. “a fragmented system. We really don’t have a system.”

The support of the AMA could give Obama’s desire for a public health insurance option a significant boost. The AMA, which lobbies heavily, could be a major factor in any reform effort.

Meanwhile, Obama on Wednesday (July 1) continued his offensive for health reform, saying at a town hall meeting in Virginia that he would get reform accomplished this year.

Rohack is no newcomer to the AMA. He has been a member of the AMA board of trustees since 2001, serving as board chair in 2004-2005. He is a professor in both the Department of Medicine and the Department of Medical Humanities in Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Scott & White, and medical director for system improvement for Scott & White Health Plan in Temple, Texas, where he continues his clinical practice.