AMA endorses House health bill – what this means

Well, well, well! One of the main stool legs of opposition to healthcare reform, including some version of single-payer, is now in favor (PDF)!

True, as Jonathan Cohn notes, in explaining why the AMA has signed off, this is not as powerful as your father’s American Medical Association, but still…

Several points here:

1. Blue Dogs also don’t have a very strong stool for triangulation now.

2. MoveOn and similar orgs can not only ramp up the advocacy ad pressure on wavering Democrats, but target more moderate Republicans as well. I’d think Republican Congressmen in suburban districts in not-too-conservative areas (think Pacific Rim and Great Lakes) are most vulnterable.

3. Given that smaller-business doctors are often members of local chambers of commerce, this could have a small spillover into the seriousness, or downgrading thereof, with which U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposition is considered and treated.

4. This means that further negotiations could strengthen other aspects of the bill, as long as the AMA’s two concerns stay met.