After careful review and consideration, the AMA announced its qualified support (PDF) today of passage of health system reform legislation under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives. Passage would be another step forward in the journey to provide health care coverage for all Americans.

When H.R. 3590 was being considered in the U.S. Senate, the AMA supported its passage while expressing opposition to certain provisions that we believed could be resolved in the conference committee process. We worked hard and made significant progress toward resolving those issues before the conference negotiations ended. There are still issues in H.R. 3590 that cannot be addressed through the current reconciliation process and will need to be addressed by Congress and the administration.

By extending coverage to the vast majority of the uninsured, improving competition and choice in the insurance marketplace, promoting prevention and wellness, reducing administrative burdens, and promoting clinical comparative effectiveness research, the AMA believes that H.R. 3590 does, in fact, improve the ability of patients and their physicians to achieve better health outcomes.

The pending bill is an imperfect product but passage of H.R. 3590 marks an important step toward improving the health of the American people. Our work is far from done and additional congressional action is needed to address outstanding issues. The AMA will be relentless in its pursuit of these important policy adjustments and will work with the administration on the next steps to strengthen our health care system.

The House is expected to vote on the health system reform bill on Sunday, March 21. Stay tuned for further updates on H.R. 3590.