Okay so there’s push back on the College of Surgeons thing. Here’s (believe it or not) the most polite e-mail I got that was on point:

I look forward to seeing this on NRO, but I wont hold my breath:
National Statistics For This Procedure Group The statistics apply to all procedures related to Partial or complete amputation of lower limb (except toe) for circulatory disorder including: * Number of cases for this procedure group : 33,960 * Number of hospitals reporting cases for this procedure group : 3,323 * Average list price for this procedure group : $58,200 * Average negotiated price : $18,300 * Average length of stay : 12
Now you can complain that the President used the list price (what someone
without insurance would pay out of pocket) and not the average of negotiated
price, or he should have said hospital cost’s and not surgeon’s, but the
fact is it costs over $50K for an amputation if you don’t have insurance

Here’s the transcript of what Obama said, from CQ (no link, I got it from Nexis):

So we are going to be taking steps as part of reform to deal with expanding primary care physicians and our nursing corps. On the doctors front, one of the things we could do is to reimburse doctors who are providing preventive care and not just surgeon who provides care after somebody is sick. Nothing against surgeons. I want surgeons. I don’t want to be getting a bunch of letters from surgeons now. I’m not dissing surgeons here. All I’m saying is: Let’s take the example of something like diabetes, a disease that’s skyrocketing, partly because of obesity, partly because it’s not treated as effectively as it could be. Right now, if we paid a family — if a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors whether they are taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a pittance.
But if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that’s $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, immediately, the surgeon is reimbursed. So why not make sure that we are also reimbursing the care that prevents the amputation? Right? That will save us money.

UPDATE: I’m getting piles of e-mail on this but I’m actually away from my computer for the next few hours. I’m taking my daughter to the fair. More later.