By Frank James

Another big endorsement for congressional and White House efforts to revamp the health care system -- the American Medical Association made its support public on Thursday.

The AMA, the largest and most influential organization of physicians in the nation, said it supported the two House health overhaul bills, HR 3962 and HR 3961.

The AMA's endorsement followed the AARP's announcement earlier in the day that it was endorsing the Democratic led initiatives to remake health-care.

An excerpt from the AMA's statement:

"The time to make health system reform a reality is now," said J. James Rohack, AMA president. "These two bills were introduced together, and they need to be passed together. Both are essential to achieving meaningful health system reform this year."
"On balance, H.R. 3962, The Affordable Health Care for America Act, is consistent with our principles of pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of physician practice and universal access. It will significantly expand health insurance coverage to Americans to empower patient and physician decision making; institute meaningful insurance market reforms; make substantial investments in quality; institute prevention and wellness initiatives; provide incentives to states that adopt certificate of merit and/or early offer liability reforms, and reduce administrative burdens."
"H.R. 3962 is not the perfect bill, and we will continue to advocate for changes, but it goes a long way toward expanding access to high-quality affordable health coverage for all Americans, and it would make the system better for patients and physicians," Dr. Rohack said. "This is not the last step but the next step toward health system reform. We will remain actively engaged with patients, physicians, Congress and the administration to ensure that the final bill results in marked improvements to our health system."

categories: Health

1:32 - November 5, 2009

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