Challenges, Optimism Remain For Senators After Public Option Amendments Fail
September 30, 2009
Challenges, Optimism Remain For Senators After Public Option Amendments Fail
Although Senate Democrats are still feeling the impact from yesterday’s Finance Committee turn-down of the public option, they are forging ahead. Public plan supporters vowed to keep up their fight as the bill moves toward the Senate floor, and then to negotiations with the House. Democratic leaders in both chambers are pushing for floor votes in the fall. But first the bill has to get out of the Finance Committee, where more hurdles are expected as senators reconvene Wednesday for their sixth day of work.
Two of those problematic issues ahead are: 1) amendments expected to be offered by minority Republicans to strengthen prohibitions against illegal immigrants getting federal funding to buy insurance; and 2) pending amendments to ensure there is no federal funding for abortion.
The Finance Committee should finish drafting its version of the legislation later this week. It then will be merged with a quite different measure, approved in the summer by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, that includes a public option. Senate leaders hope to begin full Senate debate in mid- to late October. If the final bill does not include a public option, an amendment seeking to include one is likely to reach a floor vote.
The vote potentially sets the stage for an epic showdown in a month or so when House and Senate leaders sit down together to negotiate a compromise bill. The Senate Finance Committee is the last to complete work on an overhaul of the health care system. After the Finance panel completes work on its version of the bill, the revised bill will be merged with the version produced by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions panel, which includes a public option.
If Senate Democratic leaders go with the Finance panel and drop a public option from the merged version of the bill, as expected, it simplifies passage in the Senate, but sets up a direct confrontation with the House. Since all three of the House bills include a public option, the merged version of the House bill is certain to have a public option.