The nation's largest physicians group has voted to support health care reform legislation making its way through Congress.
At their semi-annual meeting in Houston, delegates with the
American Medical Association voted Monday to "reaffirm the AMA's commitment to health system reform."
The vote was a blow to a vocal group of doctors who had rallied to get the AMA to rescind its support for the House version of the overhaul bill, the
Associated Press reported. They urged the group's House of Delegates to oppose any health overhaul that includes a public insurance option and Medicare payment cuts to doctors, and that excludes tort reform.
AMA president J. James Rohack said in a statement after the vote, "The time to make health system reform a reality is now." Rohack said, however, that the House legislation is "not the perfect bill," according to the
Wall Street Journal.
"We will continue to advocate for changes that help make the system better for patients and physicians as the legislative process continues," Rohack said.
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