Doctors in the United States favor expanding coverage and have supported the broad outlines of healthcare reforms proposed by the Obama administration. However, their role in the development of this mission, and more generally in the healthcare policies of the United States, is no longer a determining factor. This article summarizes the general parameters of Obama?s health reform, presents a synthesis of well known studies on the traditional role of physicians in healthcare policy, and attempts to explain how the American medical profession has come to be only one among other stakeholders that now exert more influence in developing healthcare policies.