House Health-Care Bill: AMA! Obama! Protesters!
By Jacob Goldstein
Sorry about all those exclamation marks in the headline. But there’s lots of action in DC today, what with the House set to vote on the big health-care bill this Saturday.
The AMA came out in favor of the House bill today. Not a huge surprise, given the group’s endorsement of the health-care bill introduced in the House earlier this year. Still, the new version of the legislation splits a provision about Medicare payments to doctors — a $250 billion provision dear to the AMA’s heart — into a separate bill. The AMA’s president called for the two bills to be passed together. The AARP backed the two bills as well.
President Obama made a cameo appearance at a routine press briefing to tout the endorsements. He said he was “extraordinarily pleased and grateful” for the organizations’ backing, Politico reports. “Remember this endorsement the next time you see a bunch of misleading ads on television,” he said. Obama plans to go to the House tomorrow to try to sway Reps who are on the fence, the WSJ says.
Meanwhile, thousands of protesters gathered outside the Capitol this afternoon chanting “kill the bill,” the New York Times reports. They gathered for a rally organized by Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Republican from Minnesota.
Bonus Bill: WashWire tells you what to keep an eye on in the big vote on Saturday.
Photo: Associated Press