1-27-10 Harry Reid on Healthcare Reform: “There’s no rush”
Now that President Obama has given his State of the Union Address, the Democrats in Congress have missed their self-imposed deadline for passing health care reform. If recent statements by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are any indication, it appears that they will not be setting another deadline. At a press conference earlier this week, Reid said “there is no rush” on the health care bill and that Congress was “not on health care now.”
Although they are not in a hurry, Democrats are still making plans on how to pass the health care bill. After losing the election in Massachusetts, the Democrats lost their supermajority in the Senate and, with it, their ability to pass legislation without a possible Republican filibuster. In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that she does not have the votes to pass the Senate bill as-is. However, Pelosi and other House Democrats are considering making an attempt to pass the bill anyway, as long as some changes were made.
Some House Democrats are proposing that Democrats in the Senate change the Senate bill through a process called “budget reconciliation”. Unlike ordinary votes, the budget reconciliation process only requires a simple majority to pass changes, and debate is limited to 20 hours, with no filibusters allowed.
Some of the possible changes being promoted by the House Democrats include:
- Removing the new tax on high-end “Cadillac” insurance plans
- Higher subsidies to help low- and moderate-income Americans buy health insurance
- Additional funding to help states expand Medicaid
The budget reconciliation process would only require 51 of the 59 Democrats in the Senate to approve changes. This would mean that the demands of Senators like Joe Lieberman and Bill Nelson could potentially be ignored.
However, some Senate Democrats have already expressed their opposition to the proposed changes, as they could add over $300 billion to the cost of the bill. Also, some Senate Democrats are opposed to the use of the budget reconciliation process entirely, as it could effectively shut the Republicans out of the negotiation process. At a recent press conference, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh said that he was concerned “reconciliation… will really destroy any prospect for bipartisan cooperation on anything else for the remainder of this year.”
Sources and More Information:
Kaiser Health News – How The Budget Reconciliation Process Works
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/January/21/budget-reconciliation-health-reform.aspx
NY Times – Democrats Put Lower Priority on Health Bill
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/health/policy/27health.html
NY Times – House Could Pass a Revised Senate Bill, Pelosi Says
LA Times – Pelosi suggests maneuver to pass healthcare overhaul
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-health-pelosi28-2010jan28,0,2042091.story
Politico – Dem impasse on health bill continues
