Sen Reid’s “Doc Fix” Fails

This is interesting. Apparently Reid tried to move forward on what is considered a “critical part” of healthcare reform… freezing medicare payments to doctors at current levels for the next decade. The measure was defeated on a procedural votes by Republicans and a group of more fiscally conservative Democrats.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/64117-reid-tells-colleagues-he-was-led-astray-by-the-ama

Twelve Democrats and one independent joined all 40 Senate Republicans in defeating a motion by Reid to begin debate on the doctors fix bill on Wednesday. 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 several centrist Democrats made it clear to him before this week that they would not vote for the measure if its cost was not offset. Reid though he could count on a few Republican crossover votes.

Now, why did the bill fail? Did it fail because it was a bad idea? No. According to Reid, it failed because the AMA lied to him.

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.

Here’s the question. Was this vote a mere procedural hiccup, a miscommunication between party officials, or was the vote representative of what the larger ObamaCare bill can expect in the Senate?