The American Medical Association today endorsed the Senate health care reform bill.
The organization’s president-elect, Cecil Wilson, spoke at a press conference with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Senate Democrats.
“After close and careful review, the AMA is pleased to announce its support for passage of the amended health system reform bill,” Wilson said.
He said the AMA supports several “key benefits” in the bill, including “improvements in choice and access” and the elimination of denials for pre-existing conditions.
“America has the best health care in the world, if you can get it. But for far too many people, access to care is out of reach because they lack insurance,” he said. “And this is just not acceptable to physicians.”
He said the AMA has worked closely with senators over the past few weeks. And, because “there is still work to do,” he said the organization will continue to work with the Senate to address issues of concern.
One of those issues is the matter of increasing Medicare payments to doctors, which he said Reid and Sen. Max Baucus promised to address early next year.
