Reid Expects to Bring Health Bill to Floor Next Week
Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reidsaid he expects to bring legislation to overhaul the U.S.health-care system up for debate next week.
Reid told reporters today at the Capitol he believes theSenate can pass the measure by the end of the year. Askedwhether he had the 60 votes needed to begin debate, he said,“I hope so.”
Reid is trying to bridge differences in his chamber overwhether the plan should include a new government-run insuranceprogram, whether it should require employers to cover workersand how to pay for covering tens of millions of uninsuredAmericans. He’s also wading through contentious areas such asfederal funding for abortion.
Abortion “is going to be a major issue,” IllinoisSenator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told reportersyesterday. “I hope we can find a way around it.”
Senators on both sides of the abortion issue warned thatit could disrupt work in their chamber. In the House, more than40 party lawmakers yesterday vowed to vote against a final billif it contains language the chamber agreed to on Nov. 7 addingrestrictions on the procedure as part of broader legislation.
There’s little margin for error. Democrats control 60votes in the Senate, just enough to pass legislation if theystick together. House Democrats have 258 votes and need 218 forpassage. The amendment restricting abortion got 64 Democraticvotes and the support of the lone Republican who voted for theoverall bill, Louisiana Representative Ahn “Joseph” Cao.
Obama’s Take
The health-care legislation is President Barack Obama’stop domestic priority and he’s pushing Congress to get it donethis year. In an interview with ABC News yesterday, Obama saidthere’s “more work” to be done to make sure the legislationdoesn’t change the status quo on abortion funding.
“This is a health-care bill, not an abortion bill,”Obama said.
Asked about abortion restrictions, Reid said today thelegislation he proposes will “ensure that no federal funds areused for abortion.” He said he’ll “continue to work with pro-choice folks and pro-life folks in the Senate to come up withsomething that is fair and reasonable” to maintain thelegal status quo on abortion.
Nelson’s Warning
Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, told reporters hemay not even vote to allow debate to proceed unless theabortion dilemma is addressed. He said he would like eventougher restrictions than the House included.
“If it isn’t clear that government money is not to beused to fund abortions, I won’t vote for it,” Nelson saidyesterday.
At stake is a plan by lawmakers to expand health-insurancecoverage to millions of Americans while curbing medical costs.Their proposals for new purchasing exchanges, subsidies and arequirement that all Americans have insurance would cost morethan $800 billion over 10 years and represent the biggestchanges to U.S. health care in four decades.
Former President Bill Clinton will seek to rally SenateDemocrats on health care today. Clinton, a Democrat, will speakat the party’s weekly policy luncheon to rally support for theeffort, according to two people familiar with the schedule.
Stupak Amendment
Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, initiatedthe House abortion amendment, saying he wanted to ensure thatfederal dollars didn’t support the procedure. The result,abortion rights activists say, is an unprecedented restrictionbecause insurers might not cover abortions for women using theexchanges even if they tap their own money to buy a plan.
More than 85 percent of private plans cover abortions,according to Naral Pro-Choice America, which called the Houseprovision an “outrageous blow to women’s freedom andprivacy.”
The group got support from Democrats who signed a letterto House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released yesterday byRepresentatives Louise Slaughter of New York and Diana DeGetteof Colorado.
“We will not vote for a conference report that containslanguage that restricts women’s right to choose any furtherthan current law,” the group of more than 40 lawmakers said,referring to the eventual House-Senate compromise legislation.
Senate Work
In the Senate, Reid is waiting for Congressional BudgetOffice cost estimates before unveiling his health-care bill andpushing to begin debate.
Senator Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, said no onehas found the “right formula” on abortion that would beacceptable in both chambers.
“We have to be able to assure people that taxpayer fundswon’t be used,” Conrad said.
Other senators said they aren’t looking for big changes.
Maine Senator Susan Collins, an abortion-rights supporterand one of the few Republicans who might back healthlegislation, said she believes the plan that came out of theSenate Finance Committee “did a good job putting up a firewallthat would prevent federal funds from going to abortions.”
The committee’s bill prohibits abortion services frombeing required as part of a minimum benefits package offeredthrough the exchange. It also segregates public subsidy fundsfrom private premium payments for insurance plans that provideabortion services.
Keeping Current Law
Senator Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, said abortion issuch a contentious topic that he and many other senatorsbelieve the best solution is to simply preserve current law.
“I would certainly prefer a bill that does not have theStupak amendment,” Cardin told reporters today.
Senator Ted Kaufman, a Delaware Democrat, said a lot oflawmakers, including himself, wouldn’t be inclined to vote downthe overall bill over a single provision. Health reform needsto pass, or the opportunity could evaporate, he said.
“We’re not going to revisit this again,” he said.
The issue will play a role in the House-Senatenegotiations that would follow a Senate vote. Lawmakers fromeach chamber would reconcile their plans and then vote again.
To contact the reporters on this story:Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@bloomberg.net;Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 10, 2009 12:21 ESTSource: Bloomberg
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