Democrats to work late on health care bill fixes
Source: Agencies |
March 26, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HOUSE Democratic leaders said they were preparing to work into the night yesterday on a package of fixes to the health care law signed by President Barack Obama.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that if the Senate finishes its work by the afternoon, the House will immediately take up the bill.
After nine straight hours of beating back Republican amendments, Senate Democrats hit a temporary snag early yesterday. Republicans learned they will be able to kill some language in the bill that relates to federal grants for low-income university students. That means the altered bill will have to be returned to the House for final congressional approval before it can be sent to Obama.
Democrats described the situation as a minor glitch, but did not rule out that Republicans might be able to remove additional sections.
Senate Democrats had hoped to complete work on the fix-it bill by midday yesterday and get it quickly to Obama without changes to avoid prolonging what has already been a yearlong politically charged battle to overhaul the country's health care system.
The bill is a companion to the main legislation passed by Congress over the weekend and signed by Obama on Tuesday.
The main health bill would extend coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans over 10 years with a first-time requirement for nearly everyone to carry insurance, and would ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage to sick people.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that if the Senate finishes its work by the afternoon, the House will immediately take up the bill.
After nine straight hours of beating back Republican amendments, Senate Democrats hit a temporary snag early yesterday. Republicans learned they will be able to kill some language in the bill that relates to federal grants for low-income university students. That means the altered bill will have to be returned to the House for final congressional approval before it can be sent to Obama.
Democrats described the situation as a minor glitch, but did not rule out that Republicans might be able to remove additional sections.
Senate Democrats had hoped to complete work on the fix-it bill by midday yesterday and get it quickly to Obama without changes to avoid prolonging what has already been a yearlong politically charged battle to overhaul the country's health care system.
The bill is a companion to the main legislation passed by Congress over the weekend and signed by Obama on Tuesday.
The main health bill would extend coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans over 10 years with a first-time requirement for nearly everyone to carry insurance, and would ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage to sick people.
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