Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) sent the American Medical Association into a tizzy Thursday night by switching his vote and blocking passage of a crucial Medicare bill. The flip came after the White House offered to work with him on getting more money for oncologists, so you’d think that at least the oncologists would be pleased.
They’re not. At least not all of them. A five-member team of lobbyists representing theAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) met with Senate Democratic staff Wednesday to assure them that they had not lobbied Specter to make a deal, said a Democratic aide and a spokeswoman for ASCO. Another Democratic aide referred to the message the oncologists delivered as “not in our name.”
“They were horrified,” said one Democratic aide, and afraid that oncologists would be blamed by Democrats and doctors for spiking a bill that would have staved off a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements. Democrats were one vote short.
Specter, by working on behalf of the oncologists, has put the oncologists in a difficult situation, stuck between the AMA and Democrats one side and a fear of alienating their champion, Specter, on the other. ASCO wouldn’t comment on the meeting other than to confirm its goal.
Copyright © 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC | Distributed by Noofangle Media
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