A June 16 New York Times article reported that President Obama addressed the American Medical Association (AMA) on June 15, “just days after the A.M.A. had signaled opposition to his proposal for a public health insurance plan to compete with private insurers as part of a menu of choices.” But staff writers Robert Pear and Jackie Calmes did not note that after a June 10 Times article quoted a statement from the AMA saying the group opposes “a public health insurance option,” the AMA backtracked from that position. The article marked at least the second time that the Times reported the AMA's “opposition” without noting its subsequent position that it is “willing to consider other variations of a public plan that are currently under discussion in Congress.”

In a June 10 Times article, Pear reported that the AMA “will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan.” The article further reported that the AMA submitted the following statement to the Senate Finance Committee: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to expand health insurance coverage and lower costs. The introduction of a new public plan threatens to restrict patient choice by driving out private insurers, which currently provide coverage for nearly 70 percent of Americans.” In a subsequent release responding to the article, AMA president Nancy Nielsen stated: “Today's New York Times story creates a false impression about the AMA's position on a public plan option in health care reform legislation.” Nielsen added: “The AMA opposes any public plan that forces physicians to participate, expands the fiscally-challenged Medicare program or pays Medicare rates, but the AMA is willing to consider other variations of a public plan that are currently under discussion in Congress.”

But in two subsequent articles -- published June 15 and June 16 -- purporting to give the AMA's position on health care reform and a public plan, the Times did not report the AMA's backtrack following the Times' June 10 article.

From the June 16 Times article:

Opening a week in which health care will dominate attention in Congress, the president's speech on Monday was the latest example of an oft-used ploy to press his case: appearing before skeptical audiences, confident of his powers of persuasion but willing as well to say what his listeners do not want to hear.

Mr. Obama spoke just days after the A.M.A. had signaled opposition to his proposal for a public health insurance plan to compete with private insurers as part of a menu of choices, much like the one for members of Congress.

“The public option is not your enemy,” Mr. Obama said. “It is your friend, I believe.” Saying it would “keep the insurance companies honest,” the president dismissed as “illegitimate” the claims of critics that a public insurance option amounts to “a Trojan horse for a single-payer system” run by the government.