October 7, 2009
This Week in Health Reform
Federal Legislative Overview
Senate: Last week, the Senate Finance Committee completed the markup of its health care reform bill, “America’s Healthy Choice Act.” More than 100 amendments were offered during the past two weeks of debate (see next section). The committee will vote next week on the amended legislation, after the Congressional Budget Office calculates the cost of a final bill.During the next stage of the legislative process, Senate leaders will work to merge the Senate Finance Committee bill with the Senate HELP Committee bill to produce a single bill to be brought to the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is hoping to bring the bill to the floor the week of October 12. Debate will last for weeks before there is a vote.
House: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and key Democratic leaders are looking for ways to merge the three versions of the House health care reform legislation, H.R. 3200 – meeting President Obama’s goal of the reform legislation not costing more than $900 billion during 10 years.
Pelosi continues to stress that the merged House bill must include a public plan option. She is still working with House Democrats who remain divided on potential revenue raisers for the legislation. Pelosi is seeking to bring a final version of H.R. 3200 to the House floor by mid-October.
Overview: Public Option Amendments – Senate Finance Committee
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee considered three amendments to add a public insurance option to the Committee’s legislation. All three amendments are outlined below.• The first amendment for a public insurance option would have tied reimbursement rates to that of Medicare. The amendment was offered by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV). This measure was rejected 8-15, with five Democrats voting with all 10 Republicans in opposition. The Democrats who voted against the amendment were: Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND), Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL). .
• The second amendment for a public insurance option was offered by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and co-sponsored by Democratic Senators Jeff Bingaman (NM), Debbie Stabenow (MI), Bob Menendez (NJ) and Maria Cantwell (WA), which failed on a 13-10 vote. This amendment did not tie reimbursement rates to Medicare and thus Chairman Baucus (D-MT), Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) were the only Democrats who joined all ten Republicans in opposing the legislation. .
• Later in the week, the Senate Finance Committee narrowly adopted an amendment from Maria Cantwell (D-WA) by a 12-11 vote that would create a federally-funded state health care plan for people between 133 percent and 200 percent of the federal poverty level who are not covered by Medicare. States would be able to negotiate contracts with health care systems to ensure coverage for eligible persons and 85 percent of funds dedicated to providing subsidies to this population would be distributed to states choosing to create a state-based basic health plan system.
Archives of: Past Weeks in Health Reform
10/02/09 - This week on Health Care Reform
9/30/09 - This week on Health Care Reform
9/25/09 - This week on Health Care Reform
9/24/09 - This week on Health Care Reform
9/18/09 - This week on Health Care Reform
9/11/09 - This week on Health Care Reform
