House Panel Nears Health Bill OK, Industry Groups Say 'No'

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans on a pivotal House committee are nearing an initial triumph in their effort to scuttle former President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, approaching a pre-dawn vote to abolish the tax penalty his statute imposes on people who don't purchase insurance and reshape how millions of Americans buy medical care.

Yet the Ways and Means panel's approval of health care legislation would only mask deeper problems Republican backers face.

Hospitals, doctors and consumer groups mounted intensifying opposition to the GOP health care drive and the White House and Republican leaders labored to rally a divided party behind their high-stakes overhaul crusade.

The American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and AARP, the nation's largest advocacy group for older people, were arrayed against the measure.

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