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Reid pushes for votes on health-care bill Posted on 11/20/2009
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, is working to nail down the 60 votes needed to move to a final debate on health-care legislation.
Vote Saturday Night The first test vote for the bill will come about 8:00pm, Saturday evening.
That is when Democratic leaders hope to keep together all 60 of their caucus members to turn back Republican procedural objections.
Reid's efforts are focused on 3 moderate Democrats who oppose various provisions in the measure and have not declared whether they will support efforts to advance it.
Sen. Reid's bill would cost $848 billion and extend coverage to 31 million more Americans while reducing federal deficits by $130 billion over the next decade.
CBO Analysis A new Congressional Budget Office analysis of the scaled-down public plan said it would have relatively little impact on the current system.
The public option would charge "somewhat higher" premiums than its private competitors and would cover about 4 million subscribers.
Opt Out Option The decision to permit states to opt out of the public plan is why Reid's proposal will not cover as many people.
Health Policy Research Center Comments John Holahan, director of the Health Policy Research Center at the liberal Urban Institute, "This is an example of a weak version of the public option, and it raises the question: Why are we doing this at all?"
Holahan said, "If your goal is cost-containment and lower government subsidy costs, this isn't working, and the CBO is telling them that."
Sen. Lieberman Position Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-CT, said he supports much of the measure and will vote with Democrats on Saturday to begin debate.
But Lieberman said he would vote against final passage if the bill includes any version of a government insurance plan.
Sen. Rockefeller Comments Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, a leading proponent of the public option, said he is willing to accept Reid's opt-out clause.
Rockefeller said, "I understand the reasons for it at this particular point."
But he said that he would "probably" offer an amendment to strengthen the public plan by requiring it to pay hospitals and other providers based on Medicare rates, which are typically much lower than those paid by private insurers.
Sen. Reid Comments Sen. Reid defended his version of the public plan on Thursday.
Reid said "It was an adequate and, I think, very powerful and robust public option."
Sen. Reid expressed confidence that he will have the votes to prevail on Saturday.
Abortion Problem Another flash point is abortion, although it remained unclear whether the issue would influence the Senate vote, as it did in the House.
Sen. Nelson Comments Sen. Ben Nelson, D-NE, an abortion opponent, said he was unsatisfied with the Senate language on the issue, which would permit federal health officials to offer abortion coverage through the public plan only if government accountants determined no federal money would be used to provide the service.
Sen. Nelson threatened to launch a filibuster to block a final vote, if language restricting federal funds for abortion was not strengthened.
Nelson said, "There are a lot of other things that could keep me from supporting it in the end."
Sen. Boxer Comments Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, said "It maintains the decades-long compromise of no federal funds for abortion, while allowing a woman to use her own private funds for her reproductive health care."
Sen. Nelson, Sen. Mary Landrieu, LA, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, AK, remain the biggest question marks for party leaders as Saturday's vote approaches.
