Senate opens 10th day of healthcare debate
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The Senate kicked off its 10th day of debate on the healthcare overhaul this morning, but the real action wasn’t on the floor as people tried to understand the effect of the latest Democratic plan.
Details remained sketchy on the new public option compromise as the Congressional Budget Office examined it to determine its cost. But at least one supporter of a strong public option praised the agreement.
Speaking on CBS’ “The Early Show,” former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said he supported the part that would expand Medicare coverage to those 55 to 65 years old.
Dean, a doctor, supports a single-payer plan in which the government would run healthcare. Medicare already is “a single payer run by the government. This moves things forward.” he said. It is “a real reform. Whatever we call it is irrelevant.”
The White House was also upbeat.
“Senators are making great progress and we’re pleased that they’re working together to find common ground toward options that increase choice and competition,” Dan Pfeiffer, White House communications director, said in a statement.
But Republicans, not surprisingly, were more skeptical.
“It’s time to stop this bill and start over,” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, said on the Senate floor this morning.
In addition to expanding Medicare (healthcare for the elderly) and Medicaid (healthcare for the poor), the compromise includes nonprofit insurance plans run through the Office of Personnel Management. The plan also includes a trigger to broaden government involvement if private insurance companies declined to participate in the nationwide plan.
The trigger is a key point because it mirrors a mechanism suggested by GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who is being wooed by Democrats as a possible yes vote for their healthcare overhaul plan. Though the Democratic caucus consists of 60 senators, including two independents, not all support the current bill and some liberals question the latest compromise on the public option.
Majority Leader Harry Reid this morning pushed again for a healthcare bill. He hopes to pass one through the Senate before the holidays.
“When we pass this bill,” Reid said, “31 million Americans who today have no health insurance whatsoever will at long last be able to afford it. That means they no longer will have to put off the surgery they desperately need, and they will be able to finally fill the prescription that today is too expensive to buy. It means 31 million more Americans will have a decent shot at a healthy life.”
The Senate today will debate an amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) to legalize the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and several other countries where medicines are generally much cheaper. Although the plan is supported by many consumer groups, and opposed by the drug industry, its fate was unclear because of what the administration says are logistical problems in ensuring imported drugs are safe.
-- Michael Muskal
twitter.com/LATimesmuskal
