As the Senate continues its historic debate of health reform, here’s a look back at the weekend’s action and look forward at what’s to come. As always, you can follow the debate live with us on Twitter (hashtag: #senatedebate)
The votes: On Saturday, Democrats staved off an attempt by Republicans to remove some $42.1 billion in cuts to home health agencies, defeating a
motion to commit by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) by a margin of
41-53. By a margin of
96-0, the Senate passed an
amendment by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) clarifying that nothing in the reform legislation would reduce home health benefits guaranteed under Medicare. On Sunday, an
amendment from Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) that would have limited compensation of executives in the health industry was defeated by vote of
56-42. An
amendment from Sen.John Ensign (R-NV) to limit attorneys’ fees in medical malpractice cases rejected
66-32.
The visit: During a rare Sunday session of the Senate, President Obama paid a visit to his former Democratic colleagues.
The Washington Post and
New York Times have the details of the visit. His message was simple, it’s time to put aside policy differences and pass health reform. Toward that end, the Senator Majority leader has named a group of 10 senators (five moderates and five liberals) to work out a compromise on the public health insurance plan.
The week ahead: Kaiser Health News has an excellent overview of the issues Reid must navigate if he hopes to pass a bill before Christmas. Here’s our preview of the key storylines for the coming week:
- Abortion: On Monday, Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) filed an amendment that would introduce Stupak-like language on abortion into the Senate bill. A vote could come as early as Tuesday, Nelson told the AP, but will likely fall short of the 60 votes needed to pass, The Wall Street Journal reports.
- Freshman Cost Amendments: A group of freshmen Democratic senators are expected to release a package of amendments early this week aimed at strengthening the cost-containment provisions of the bill (Politico has an early memo summarizing some of the proposals). Briefly, the package of amendments is designed to strengthen payment reforms in Medicare and Medicaid, expand the scope of reforms to include the public and private sector, and reduce the legal and administrative barriers to high quality care.
- Prescription Drugs: Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) has introduced an amendment that would save $106 billion over the next ten years by moving about six million seniors eligible for Medicare into the Medicaid program, which can negotiate rates and pays much lower prices for the same drugs. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-SD) has introduced an amendment allowing drug reimportation that would save the government about $19 billion over ten years. The drug industry, The Washington Post reports, is not happy about either proposal.
- Public Option: The never ending story continues. The latest idea to take center stage is a proposal to offer non-profit plans in the insurance exchanges regulated by the Office of Personnel Management, similar to what’s offered members of Congress through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. NYT’s David Herszenhorn has more details. Jacob Hacker and Tim Jost are less than thrilled with the idea, but Ezra Klein believes it may allow proponents of a public plan to achieve other important compromises on affordability and insurance regulation. Politico’s Carrie Budoff-Brown thinks the rhetoric is already changing with Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s call for a health care bill of rights.
Join the Conversation
Please log in below through Disqus, Twitter or Facebook to participate in the conversation. Your email address, which is required for a Disqus account, will not be publicly displayed. If you sign in with Twitter or Facebook, you have the option of publishing your comments in those streams as well.