This Week in Health Reform EasyToInsureME

December 9, 2009

This Week in Health Reform —Legislative Overview

Senate
Less than two weeks after the debut of official legislative language, the Senate began official debate on its $848 billion health care reform bill “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (H.R. 3590) on November 30. The bill, which is estimated to cover 94 percent of Americans, passed its first hurdle before the Thanksgiving holiday when Senate Democrats received the needed 60 votes on the “motion to proceed” to debate.

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More than 60 amendments have been filed to the Senate health care reform legislation in its first week of debate. Some of the notable amendments include one by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), which was adopted by a vote of 61-39. The amendment would eliminate co-payments for many preventive services for women – and would require that insurers provide full coverage for breast and cervical cancer screenings. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) also included a stipulation to the amendment that would preclude the most recent controversial recommendations on breast cancer screenings by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force from being used for insurance coverage determinations. Additionally, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) are crafting an abortion-related amendment that will mirror the one passed in the House version of the bill last month. The amendment would prohibit the use of federal funds for abortions.

Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) is leading efforts in the Democratic caucus on the creation of a public health insurance option that is built around a state-by-state “trigger” option. Carper has spent weeks working with members of the Democratic caucus, as well as some moderate Republicans on the amendment that he is hoping will appease a broad range of individuals concerned about the government-run health insurance plan, also known as the “public option”.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) still has significant work to do in uniting his divided Democratic caucus. Reid has stated that he will keep Senators in Washington on weekends throughout December to ensure that key legislative issues are worked out before a final bill can be brought to the Senate floor. As detailed above, Reid will have to balance trying to appease the progressive members of his party with a robust government-run health insurance plan with corralling the moderate and conservative Democrats who have been vocal on issues such as abortion and cost-containment measures.

House
The House of Representatives remains quiet on health care reform legislation after passing its portion of the bill in November. Its main focus during the next few weeks before the holiday recess will be on a financial regulation package to be brought up by the House Committee on Ways and Means.