If Harry Reid was "led astray" by the AMA, is there some way we can punish them?

Question

Reid Tells Colleagues AMA Led Him Astray, as 'Doc Fix' Nears Collapse

By Alexander Bolton - 10/21/09 01:36 PM ET

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has told colleagues that he was given bad information by the American Medical Association (AMA), which will result in a significant setback to Democrats’ healthcare reform strategy.

Democrats are not expected to have the votes to pass a 10-year freeze of scheduled cuts to doctors' Medicare payments, according to sources in both parties. Reid had offered to pass the "doctors' fix" in return for support from the doctors on President Barack Obama's broader healthcare initiative, which is slated for the Senate floor later this year.


Reid told colleagues that the AMA said it could deliver 27 Republican votes for the legislation, according to two Senate Democratic lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Reid needs the GOP votes because at least five members of his party have vowed to vote against the doctors' fix.

Reid said at a news conference Wednesday that he would bring up the 10-year freeze after the healthcare reform legislation is passed and will settle for a one-year fix in the meantime.

"We'll take this up again when we finish healthcare," Reid said Wednesday, "and we'll have a multiple-year fix for this. Right now, we'll only have a one-year fix."

The doctor payment cuts are mandated by a 1997 law.

A spokeswoman for the AMA did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Democrats could count only two Republicans who said they might vote for the bill. Though many Republicans say they want to save doctors from Medicare cuts, they have balked at the quarter-trillion dollar bill, citing a lack of spending cuts or tax increases to pay for its cost.


The Senate is expected to reject a motion by Reid to begin debate on a doctor payment when it votes on the issue shortly after 2 p.m. on Wednesday. At least five Democrats have said they would not support legislation to shore up doctors’ payments unless it was paid for.


Reid brought the $247 billion bill to the Senate floor this week as part of a deal to secure the support of doctors groups such as the AMA for passage of a separate, broader healthcare reform bill later this year. But the strategy has backfired.


Reid knew that he needed Republican votes because of several centrist Democrats made it clear to him before this week that they would not vote for the so-called “doctor fix” if its cost was not offset. Reid though he could count on a few Republican crossover votes.


Now, Democrats concede that they will not be able to muster the 60 votes needed to proceed to the bill. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a brief hallway interview that he didn’t think the motion to proceed to the bill would pass.


Reid told reporters on Wednesday that he was led to believe that more than two dozen Republicans would vote for the bill, though he did not mention the AMA by name.


“I was told by various people that we would have 27 Republican votes, which was pretty reasonable to assume since one of the co-sponsors of this legislation was [Sen.] Jon Kyl [Ariz.], the assistant Republican leader.

“I was stunned when I was told by his co-sponsor Sen. Stabenow after we introduced this legislation that [Kyl] couldn’t support it. Even though he is a co-sponsor he couldn’t support the legislation,” Reid said, making reference to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the lead sponsor of the 10-year doctor payment fix.

Kyl did not cosponsor the 10-year fix. Last year and in 2005 he co-sponsored a measure that would have implemented a two-year freeze on the cuts to Medicare payments to doctors.


An aide to Kyl said that those measures would have indexed future payments to inflation and rising healthcare costs. The aide said that Stabenow’s bill would freeze payment levels and make no provision for rising costs.


Another factor, the nation’s fiscal picture is much different than it was last year. The Obama administration recently estimated the federal deficit at $1.4 trillion.


Democratic senators are not certain whether the AMA told Reid directly that it could deliver 27 Republicans or made its estimate known through intermediaries.


Reid, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) met with doctors’ groups last week to discuss strategy. Two participants in the meeting said Reid and the groups did not talk about a specific number of Republicans that could be persuaded to support the doctors fix bill.


“No numbers were thrown around,” said the representative of one group. “Twenty-seven is a little ambitious.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/64117-reid-tells-colleagues-he-was-led-astray-by-the-ama

Answer 1

Perfect!

This is what it is all about ... and it ain't got a thing to do with no stinkin' health care.

It's about Obama's giant ego and whimpy little Harry Read wanting to toss his weight around Washington.

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Delivering Republicans ... beautiful.

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Improved health care at a reasonable cost ... screw it.

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Obama has already sold out to the Pharmaceutical industry for $150,000,000 worth of ego soothing TV ads in exchange for "protection".(1) What a loser!

That tells you exactly what the administrations thinks about any sort of cost improvement for health care. They don't want it to cost less, they are just hunting for somebody to pay for it!

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Who is gonna pay for that $150,000,000 "gift/bribe"?

Drug company execs gonna chip in a few bucks?

Not on your life! They'll add it to our prescription cost!



Nope! Not a thing to do with improving health care.

Answer 2

Is this a joke? Reid has hit bottom and grasping at anything, I doubt the AMA would promise him anything much less a vote count for the floor.

Answer 3

Well, Reid is up for re-election...