Thursday’s endorsement came as no surprise given news of it had previously leaked to the media. In West Virginia, the state’s top AARP officials gathered at the organization’s Charleston office to watch their national counterparts make the announcement via streaming video. The House bill — the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act — is one of three major health care reform proposals before Congress and arguably the most far-reaching in terms of changes it would bring. The Senate currently is weighing two separate health care proposals.

The organization was looking for several reforms in a health care bill, according to Gaylene Miller, senior state director of AARP West Virginia. It wanted a bill to close the so-called “doughnut hole” of medication coverage for many seniors; to eliminate the use of pre-existing conditions to deny coverage; to limit the costs of health policies to seniors to twice that of younger people; and to allow the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower drug prices in Medicare.

“After reviewing all three of those legislative proposals that are currently before Congress, by far and away the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act meets those priorities,” she said.

The bill also requires individuals and businesses to carry health insurance or face tax penalties and would create a public insurance program to compete with private insurers. At the same time, the House bill require cuts in Medicare to pay for itself, although the AARP has declared those cuts acceptable and argued the changes will make the program more financially sound in the future.

AARP is one of the nation’s most influential interest groups, but in the debate over health care it up against the equally powerful medical and insurance lobbies. Insurers in particular have been quick to criticize many of the proposed reforms, especially plans for a public option to compete against them.

A floor debate on the House bill could be days away. The Senate probably will take longer, given senators will need to combine two separate bills before moving forward. Then after both chambers pass legislation, the competing bills will end up in conference committee to weed out the differences.