So did AMA and ACP have a seat at the medical legislative table or were they on the menu?

An essay that is receiving much attention as it should is available here .The author is Angelo M. Codevilla, a professor emeritus from Boston University. His characterizations of the" Ruling Class" and the "Country Class" is in the least thought provoking. I quote from the section labeled " Dependence Economics" with my bolding added:

"By taxing and parceling out more than a third of what Americans produce, through regulations that reach deep into American life, our ruling class is making itself the arbiter of wealth and poverty. While the economic value of anything depends on sellers and buyers agreeing on that value as civil equals in the absence of force, modern government is about nothing if not tampering with civil equality. By endowing some in society with power to force others to sell cheaper than they would, and forcing others yet to buy at higher prices -- even to buy in the first place -- modern government makes valuable some things that are not, and devalues others that are. Thus if you are not among the favored guests at the table where officials make detailed lists of who is to receive what at whose expense, you are on the menu.
Eventually, pretending forcibly that valueless things have value dilutes the currency's value for all. Laws and regulations nowadays are longer than ever because length is needed to specify how people will be treated unequally. For example, the health care bill of 2010 takes more than 2,700 pages to make sure not just that some states will be treated differently from others because their senators offered key political support, but more importantly to codify bargains between the government and various parts of the health care industry, state governments, and large employers about who would receive what benefits (e.g., public employee unions and auto workers) and who would pass what indirect taxes onto the general public."

Treating people differently seems to be the essence of "social justice" for which supporters of Obamacare claim a victory.

While the leaders of AMA and ACP ( and other medical organizations as well) announced proudly they had a seat at the adults' table with the Obama administration in planning health care reform , for most of the medical profession, I think the designation of "on the menu" is more appropriate as it is for many citizens who were "happy with their doctors and health care plans". Maybe sometimes folks just thought they had a seat at the table or , even worse, maybe they got what they wanted.