WASHINGTON (CNN) - The American Medical Association endorsed the House Democratic leadership's health care reform bill Thursday.
It's "not a perfect representation of our views," but is close enough to warrant the support of the organization, AMA President Dr. J. James Rohack said.
Rohack said the bill needs to be accompanied by legislation reversing scheduled Medicare reimbursement payment reductions to physicians.
WATCH: Obama touts bill's support
From CNN Politics
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It's about time they got on board. They kept claiming they didn't endorse the Health Care Bill. Maybe now people will wake up and see we in fact need this bill to be put into Law.
The Republicans can go without health care if they don't want it.
The rest of the Nation is ready and willing.
Sounds like the AMA wants a STRONG ROBUST PUBLIC OPTION as well. Thanks for the endorsement anyway guys.
Let's see, the AMA and the AARP endorse the bill..... polls show the majority of American citizens support the legislation. The CBO says it will get 25 million more on insurance and will save Billions for the country.
So the Republicans give a 230 page "greatest hits" bill made up of legislation that couldn't pass a Republican Senate, the CBO says won't get 3 million more people on insurance and won't help the economy.
BRILLIANT!
The time for health care reform is now. It is also time for the moderates in the GOP to work for all Americans.
So Rohack is endorsing a bill he has not read?
So Rohack is endorsing a bill while "hoping" that they eventually reverse the cuts in Medicare?
Rohack is NOT speaking for doctors at this point !!!
Thank you AMA !! I am one of the uninsured.
Notice that their endorsement comes with a stipulation to not cut Medicare reimbursements. Thats how this bill is funded!!!!!!
Bring on the taxes!!!! My higher insurance costs. And government bureaucracy. If you think its complicated now just wait till incle sam runs it...seen the tax code lately?
This is really a huge deal for the public!!!
Now its time to just pass this Bill already it's been to long!
Yea, the "American MEDICAL association", you know, the people who ACTUALLY deal with the horrid nightmare that is our current health care insurance companies, don't know a thing. Or atleast that is what some moronic self serving, genocide supporting republicans will tell you.
Health Insurance companies make a profit by killing their customers. It's a FACT! Dead customers, who have paid many years, equate to a higher profit margin. There is NO disputing it! Insurance companies FIND ways to let their long time customers DIE!
The Obstructionists will now try to say that the AMA is a liberal organization...that is further from the truth than the death panel claim is!
Time for the members to revolt and start a new organization that truly represents doctors..and not political agendas.
They made a deal to make sure that they will get a big payday out of it. I am so glad Bush is gone no more tax breaks for companies that produce energy, helping keep the price down. Lucky for us average Americans we elected somebody who wants to give tax increases to everyone for everything. Sorry son, but Obama thinks your college fund should be spread around. He thinks everyone will better, well not you but everyone else anyway.
It is time to pass heath reform and joing the 21st century.
the AMA is in bed with the Dem leadership. Whats their enrollment ,like 10% of all doctors in the US?
Some proud members of unpatriotic mobs are so confused thay don't remember which article they're commenting on. Doesn't matter, though, the message is always the same.
Filthy, nasty, ignorant Liberals are name-callers. Waaah.
HERE WE GO! And yet another endorsement!!!! And these endorsements are not lightweight!!!
We're so excited – REPUBS better watch it!!
The bill will also pass with the Public Option!!!
CASE and POINT!!!! LOL
Wow, a good start along with the AARP's group too. I just saw part of John Bonyer speaking (on CNN site) wherein he is blasting this plan and any health plan. He sites the founding fathers and what they stood for. His base for this argument is pure fear mongering once again. When he loses his seat in Congress, he can join the Glenn Becks, Rush Limbaughs, Sarah Palins with their shows one could call entertaining, but I call dangerous. I think most Americans want a smaller government but we are here to help our other Americans too and government is one vehicle that can reach out to those in needs. The Bonyers of the world do not want to help anyone but their party. Yeah for the two groups for reading through the data and making thoughtful comments.
Ah, birds of a feather flock together...who says doctors and lawyers can't get along. We now have a shortage of OBGYNs, RNs and GPs where is the AMA and federal govt going to get these people?
I still cannot undertand why and no one will answer me:
1> Don't we go for real reform and cap malpractice suit awards? 2> Cut the fraud and stiffen the penaties for Medicare and Medicaid cheaters? 3>Why the unions and the idiots trying to pass this have exempted themselves if this is so great? 4> Why should generations of unborn children pay for our health care? 5>How this plan is not a violation of the 11th ammedment of the Constitution? 6>if exsisting fed run health care systems are filled with waste, fraud and have nearly been bankrupted..how will this be any different? 7> since there is already court decisions which say states cannot exclude illegal aliens from benefits how can Obama the great attorney not know they will be covered by this health plan once it goes to court?
We only need 3 things to reform healthcare:
1. Ability to obtain insurance with pre-existing conditions.
2. Ability to continue with the same coverage/insurer when you leave a job.
3. Ability to keep the same insurance coverage/provider when you move to another state.
AWESOME now it is sure to pass with a public option.
This says alot....but, i'm sure, Republicans across our great nation, will find something wrong with it...it's just the GOP way! Morons.
Way to go Democrats!!!!!
Enter GOPer/neocon Limbaugh dittoheads, stage right, spewing what sound like LSD induced hallucinatory rationalizations as to why the AMA's endorsement of this plan does not matter.
Get ready....the Republicans will scream and find fault somewhere to stall the forward progress. It's become the GOP way.
I just read all the wing-nut comments against the AARP on that ticker. He he he he, I wonder what there explaination is going to be on this one.
Here, I'll have a go at it: "Obama paid them off and threatened to add them to his enemies list if they didn't endorse. Thank God we have Rush and Beck to tell us the unbias truth."
this support comes after the president of the AMA, who was against Obama's radical agenda, was suddenly replaced with a "Pro-Obama," president.....hmmm...makes you wonder how many threats that guy received from Emanuel and the Chi-town cronies..
Republicans can't possibly back this health care bill.....they have too many lobbyists to please.
Not so – we just received a letter from many doctors in our are saying they were NOT for this. He cannot make such a broad statement – oh I forgot, he can say what he wants with no questions from the mainstream media or CNN.
Just do it..
What a joke, this guy should be removed immediatly. Not one Dr. or surgeon supports this liberal crap. It will never pass, maybe democants did not watch the elections tuesday but a beat down is coming.
Both the AMA and the AARP have endorsed this health care bill. Watch, Republicans will muck this up the best way they can. It's become the GOP way.
finally ama is waking up.being married and working for a doctor for tha last 25 yrs,i can tell you with certainty that this health CARE REFORM AS A WHOLE WILL BENEFIT THE DOCTORS.we wlll have more patients who are covered and will go to see the doctors if needed.the people thAT we see without health care insurance are not illigaL alliens,they are white average americans thaT work but cannot afford the 600-700 dolLars a month premiums.
so thank you AMA.
Health care for all Americans is a moral issue. It should not be up to the insurance companies to dictate what is right. By definition of being a for profit industry, insurance companies only care about profits, the bigger the better. The public option is the only real way to bring about real reform and real competition. And please, don't say only lazy welfare receipients are the ones who want the public option! My family is chock full of physicians who support the public option, and health care for all, even though my family would most likely pay more taxes because we fall into the top 1% of income earners. We feel it is a moral imperative to take care of the sick!!
These endorsements are meaningless. Everyone wants coverage and health and prosperity for everyone else.
Did they ask the AMA whether they think the financial implications, which may doom us all, warrant the changes in health care?
Of course not.
Do you want everyone to live forever? Answer: Yes.
100% of people are in favor of the new Health Care plan.
What a bunch of garbage.
Who cares what the AMA thinks? I am a surgeon, and neither myself nor any of my partners are members of that organization. Their viewpoints are irrelevant in the world of medicine, as evidenced by the fact that they would support a bill that is universally reviled by every physician I know (except one anesthesiologist I work with who thinks Obama can do no wrong). What a bunch of fools – the bill is not even complete and ready for review by the general public, but they can't wait to rally behind it. That sound you just heard was the death knell of the AMA, which will soon cease to exist because of its ridiculous leadership.
What a crock...AMA does not represent most docs viewpoints and to 'endorse' a bill based on what you hope they wil do to alter it is idiotic...more political grandstanding...
AARP and AMA in one day. Excellent. Now lets keep it moving, and screw what the Republicans want.
If I were the AMA I would endorse, too, what with that gun to my head.
how much of the bill is obama allocating torwards the doctor's pay...
The AARP also endorsed today.
The AMA like the AARP is supported by membership. They decide based on what they believe is best for their members (which is why the AARP also supported Bush;s prescription bill for seniors). It is up to the democrats to make sure the bill does what's best also for the overall economy and the rest of its citizens and I believe under the circumstances it is a pretty good effort.
Please, we really need to do something for seniors who are under Medicare Advantage plans. Did you know if you are under this type of plan you would have to pay 20% for a pacemaker/defibrillator surgery. Defibrillators can cost as much as $25,000 which means a patient would be responsible for a payment of $5,000. If you are on a limited income, it means life or death. Is this what the Republicans want? Know what a 7-day hospital deductible charge is? $1,680. Really, what do our professional politicians have in mind???????????
Naturally the AMA would.
The US treasury and taxpayers currently spend 240 billion per year to subsidize insurance companies for those on employer based health care. That's just employer based health care.
The government has a whole host of other handouts and subsidies that it gives to the health insurance companies at a cost to the taxpayer.
That is a net cost to the US, and a tax to every taxpaying American. It's a tax we're paying with an overhead to bankroll someone else profit. That's a redistribution of wealth.
Interesting. Is this the $900 million dollar plan, the $1.00 Trillion dollar plan, the $1.2 Trillion dollar plan, the $780 Million dollar plan? The public option plan? The non public option plan?
Maybe everyone should wait until there is an actual plan before we throw endorsements one way or the other around.
So the AMA and AARP are backing the bill along with the Majority of Americans. Why this won't sink into the Republicans thick heads is beyond me, Oh thats right they are the ones getting the huge campaign contributions from the insurance industry
When the nation's doctors agree that health care needs to be overhauled it is time to get it done. Bravo AMA...!
Sure they endorse it, many of them are about to retire and it won't matter to them at all.
The disgusting part is that AARP endorsed it, which should give us all cause for alarm, since they are an organization not taken seriously by the general populace, they are in seen as just above that ACORN outfit, if not along the same lines.
RNC are you paying attention? Aarp also on board. Now is the time to offer something in the way of a solution.
any one who has brain will endorse this health care reform with public option....Americans, watch out....these insurance thugs are spending billions not to pass....idiots like John Boehner, Mittch Mcconnol, and Mitt Romeny, will roadblock....get together and pass this much needed law...ok...Blue Dog democrats, dont be idiotic...stay together with pres. obama and democratic party....don't be sold out...Americans are watching...so does rest of the world....internet age...ok...not iditot Reagan era...no more...
Thank you and may all the endorsements keep coming.
Rohack said the bill needs to be accompanied by legislation reversing scheduled Medicare reimbursement payment reductions to physicians.
So, in other words, the AMA is all for screwing the American taxpayer, not to mention hammering the quality of American medical care, so long as none of the above hurts American doctors.
Contemptible!
American's avoid healtcare by government at all cost!!! I adore your nation.Think about how your country was founded.
Rohack said the bill needs to be accompanied by legislation reversing scheduled Medicare reimbursement payment reductions to physicians.
So, in other words, the AMA is all for screwing the American taxpayer, not to mention hammering the quality of American medical care, so long as none of the above hurts American doctors.
Contemptible!
AMA just confirmed my own survey with all the doctors I know in my state. They all want a Public Option. One doctor even said she doesn't want to see more seniors hooked on machines without any real life.
Of course they did. They are in President Obama's back pocket. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
Of course the AMA supports this bill. Why would they not?
The government is getting ready to borrow $1 trillion to put in a program to pay health professionals ( i.e., the AMA ) to provide services for everyone!
If the government would suggest borrowing ungodly amounts of money to pay me for taking on more customers I would get behind that bill with everything I can bring to bear.
The
AMA no longer represents the mainstream doctors. Only about 15% of doctors belong to the AMA. Most of these are out of the mainstream. The vast majority of practicing doctors are totally against the Demo's medical bill. Obama's persistence in claiming doctor's are for the bill is a complete distortion of the truth.
How embarrassing for the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats. Their position against health care reform comes under even more scrutiny as the AMA and AARP now have come out in favor of the House version of the bill. That leaves the insurance industry and their paid lobby/Congressmen the only ones against. Wake up people, do you really think the AARP would be supporting this bill if it really included the things the insurance companies have been lying to you about?
“It is a magnificent feeling to recognize the unity of complex phenomena which appear to be things quite apart from the direct visible truth.”
Albert Einstein quotes (German born American Physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)
What this quote has to do with the article above is that the only way that we can achieve true healthcare reform is through unity. Healthcare affects all 308 million of us. If we have at least a choice in the matter, I believe that we can all support that. Besides, who wants to be forced to choose one type of insurance? Not me. I want choice, competition, and free enterprise. The Public Option is what it is, an option. Compare it to Public and Private schools, public shools are funded by the government, while private are funded by themselves, and are private schools going out of business? No, in fact, they are doing quite well. Our nation was founded on the idea of everyone having free choice. Lets fulfill George Washington's dream.
Who among us is brave enough to tell the Republicans that is NOT the 19th century? It really is the 21st century and the world has changed even if they refuse to do so.
What a ringing endorsement! The AMA leadership says it's "close enough" IF the House adds another 250 billion or so by dropping the cost cutting in doctor's Medicare payments. That's a pretty big "if".
Given the old saying, "it's close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades", it doesn't raise my confidence that this will do anything other than hobble or destroy healthcare and the economy in this country.
GOOD for you AMA! GOOD for you!
Of course the AMA endorses it. The bill does hardly anything to rein in costs. It gives doctors an open checkbook with the taxpayers bank account.
Well fortunately for those of us that are intelligent, the AMA membership only contains about 16% of the doctors. The democRAT house bill is the biggest bunch of crap I've ever read. More taxes, more taxes, more taxes – maybe 2% of the uninsured will be covered, all this for that? I cannot believe how gullible the democRATs are. As a moderate independent, I cannot afford any of Nobama's taxes!
This endorsement should make anyone who trusts that this bill will actually be effective at reducing costs think twice. The AMA supports the bill because it will insure more people, which means more customers for its members, but they want the Medicare payment reductions to be reversed. In other words, they support the parts that will increase costs, but oppose those designed to reduce costs (at least those that affect its members directly). Who wants to bet that they won't be successful at getting the payment reduction reversed?
Looks like we'll be doing this all again in a few years after costs continue to rapidly increase. It's too bad that no one with influence is interested in real health care reform.
OK now we have the AARP and the AMA supporting the the House bill. That must make it a good thing. Didn't AARP support Medicare Part D? And doesn't the House proposal recommend cuts in Medicare. So who does AARP really support - the insurance industry or senior citizens? I'm beginning to wonder. Does the AMA support mean that doctors will now not run all the extra tests on patients to ensure that they are not sued??? All I can see with the health care reform proposals prepared by the Democrats is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$? Who is going to pay for all of this the rich and the people on Medicare???
AARP has stuck it to Seniors in order to keep their inadequate version of Medicare Advantage alive while killing off the competition. They will lose a lot more memberships, including mine.
I don't think some realize just how many people are suffering in illnesses right now that can't, due to lack of resources, get the help they need. I am a firm believer we are our brother and sisters keeper and must always strive to do the right thing. I pray the bills that go forth keep in mind we don't need to put debt on our children and grandchildren nor suffer many more into poverty because of the bills going forward. Live by the simplified method and all will work out.
I do ask that President Obama abide by his promise and not let any Federal tax dollars pay for abortions. That is the right thing to do, and it hinges on your promise(s). It deserves a specific clause.
Thank you AMA......
wow! Good job President Obama! good job.
The AMA now represents a mere fraction of US physicians; many more physicians (greater than 90%) are against the passage of this bill than are for it. The AMA does not speak for them!
And all those protestors, who happen to be a more older crowd, that are demanding "no government run healthcare system" best be careful we don't take them up on their proposition. It doesn't seem they realize that THEY are on the biggest "government run healthcare system" in America and it is costing the rest of us more in taxes. So yes, let's get rid of ALL the government run healthcare and go back to that wonderful American Individualism where everyone is responsible to pay for all of their own medical care. That's really what they want and keep chanting about at these protests. What's that old saying, "be careful what you wish for....................".
The last time I checked, AMA does not represent the American people.
Where was CNN when former AMA presidnet and thousand of Drs marched to Washington in opposition to the public option and to juxtapose the WH showing off few Drs in the front lawn in lab coats as a endorsement by the medical community. Just like any profession, anyone can find few wacho liberal Drs.
The AMA only represents about 17% of doctors nationwide.
thank god that there are reasonable leaders at the top of the medical community to counter those "tea party" fools!
it is utterly ridiculous and simply absurd that any adult could picture themselves as a better "patriot" (complete with tri-corner hat) because they watch the fox propaganda channel, denounce evolution, or are proud that they are ignorant morons...but then again we just had eight years being led by a moron.
Didn't the Administration trot out these trick ponies before? How many times can they revive the same story that the AMA and AARP are supporting the healthcare bill despite what their members think or with some big "if"s" tacked on to their "endorsements".
Is there a photo op being planned for the AMA using the same white lab coats the handed out two or three weeks ago? Is there one for the AARP filled with a handful of cheering octogenerians rounded up from local senior centers?
Remember the lines from the Wizard of Oz,
I AM THE ALL POWERFUL WIZARD OF OZ! PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN PULLING THE STRINGS.
Ask yourself this–if this bill was really going to destroy health care as we know it, would the AMA support it? Doctors are doing very well under the current system, so nobody has more to lose than they do.
Of course, maybe these doctors are all part of the Marxist conspiracy to destroy freedom, apple pie, and the American Dream.
No doctor I know has endorsed this deal. No doubt the DNC applied financial pressure.
This is kind of funny. A little while back Obama claimed the AMA supported his plan. The AMA gave Obama a letter outlining what he needed to do with the industry. When you read the letter it was an outline of the republican ideas.
Not funny ha ha: funny head scratching