WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday thanked a group representing U.S. doctors and the AARP, a powerful lobbying group for older Americans, for their support of a U.S. House of Representatives healthcare reform bill.

"This is no small endorsement," he said in a surprise appearance at the daily White House press briefing. "We are closer to passing this reform than ever before," he said.

(Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by Sandra Maler)