The New Health Dialogue

The closest Starbucks? Across the street at the Federal Center Metro station. The closest bar? We’d guess the 21^st Amendment at the Capitol Holiday Inn, but we really don’t go out much in Southwest. Still, these are useful facts when you're in the world of health reform, where all eyes are focused on the fourth floor of the Ford House Office Building at 2nd and D SW.

The address, of course, is that of the Congressional Budget Office. Democrats are waiting eagerly for the agency to score the effects of health reform's latest compromise -- a complicated deal, the components of which involve opening up Medicare to individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 and creating a system of private nonprofit health plans, administered by the Office of Personnel and Management.  The details remain vague as have the senators whose concerns the compromises are intended to satisfy.

Still, that hasn’t prevented the World's Most Deliberative body from doing what it does best. You can follow the action live with us on Twitter (hashtag: #senatedebate). Potential votes this afternoon include the Dorgan amendment on drug reimportation, and the Crapo motion to commit. Topics du jour include the Medicare Buy-In and Sen. Kent Conrad’s (D-ND) proposal to create a bipartisan commission to reduce the long-term deficit (Mark Schmitt has a good piece on this idea over at the American Prospect). Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have also joined together to offer three amendments aimed at holding down premium costs and creating choice. Briefly, the amendments would:

• Allow employees of firms who offer health insurance to take a voucher from their employer for the value of the employer’s plan and purchase insurance on their own in the exchange
• Make it possible for individuals, who are not eligible for a subsidy, to purchase a catastrophic plan, regardless of age
• Modify the annual fee on insurers to create an incentive for them to hold down rates