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Obama health plan set to advance in US Senate
Source: Agencies |
December 24, 2009, Thursday
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THE Senate was poised to hand Barack Obama a huge Christmas Eve victory by approving an US$871 billion overhaul of US health care, capping months of struggle in the face of solid Republican opposition.
The vote today on the bill extending health care coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans brings Obama's closer to achieving his top domestic priority. The White House and Congress have now come farther toward the goal of a comprehensive overhaul of the US health care system than any of their predecessors.
But the final step may be the hardest: reconciling the Senate bill with a significantly different version already approved by the House of Representatives.
A compromise would have to be approved by both chambers - and could collapse if Obama loses the support of any Democrat in the Senate or a handful in the House.
After 24 days of consecutive debate - the Senate's second-longest such stretch ever - passage of the bill Thursday was all but inevitable. Yesterday, Democrats prevailed on the last of three procedural votes requiring the support of all 58 of its members, plus two allied independents. Thursday's vote will require only a simple majority of the 100-member body.
"It has been a long time coming," said a leading Democratic senator, Max Baucus. "I thank God that I have lived to see this day."
The bill's passage will offer Obama a bright end to an often rocky year that began with huge hopes following his election victory. His public approval level now hovers around 50 percent as he copes with high unemployment, increasing violence in Afghanistan and the divisive health care debate.
Obama delayed his Christmas vacation in Hawaii until the Senate vote, a sign of its importance to his presidency. The legislation will likely shape the 2010 congressional elections and possibly Obama's 2012 re-election bid.
Some liberal Democrats have not been enthusiastic about the Senate bill, which would leave about 24 million people uninsured. There are no plans for a government-run national health care system that would cover all Americans. Even a more modest proposal to have a government-run health plan compete with private insurers had to be stripped from the Senate bill in the face of opposition from moderate Democrats.
In an interview with PBS, Obama signaled he will sign a bill even if it lacks the provision.
"Would I like one of those options to be the public option? Yes," Obama said. "Do I think that it makes sense, as some have argued, that, without the public option, we dump all these other extraordinary reforms and we say to the 30 million people who don't have coverage, 'You know, sorry. We didn't get exactly what we wanted?' I don't think that makes sense."
Republicans have been almost unanimously against it, saying it will lead to higher taxes, greater deficits and government meddling in health care decisions. Sen. Orrin Hatch contended that it "just might wind up being the most widely hated legislation of the decade."
Instead, Obama's plan would build on the current system, in which health insurance is provided primarily by employers. Americans, for the first time, would be required to get coverage, and subsidies would be available to lower- and middle-income families. Unpopular insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions would be banned.
Whatever their reservations, most Democratic lawmakers backed Obama, recognizing they may never get a better opportunity to change a health care system that leaves nearly 50 million people uninsured. Democrats are in the rare position of controlling the White House while having strong majorities in both chambers of Congress.
That could change after the November midterm elections, when opposition parties frequently pick up seats. The health care bill itself could deepen Democratic losses. Republicans are targeting moderate Democrats from conservative states who supported the bill.
Obama and Democratic leaders have had to offer concessions and political favors to keep those moderate Democrats on board. In the House, Democratic leaders made compromises on abortion to win a narrow 220-215 vote on its health bill, with 39 of their own members opposing the bill. Crafting the Senate bill was even more difficult because Democrats needed the votes of all 60 of its members and allies to overcome Republican procedural hurdles.
The abortion provisions that clinched the House vote could prove a major obstacle to reconciling the two chambers' bills. The Senate has already rejected including that language in its version. Senators may also balk at the House's income tax increase for high-earning Americans.
Thursday's vote will be a rarity: the Senate's first Christmas Eve vote since 1895, when the matter at hand was a military affairs bill concerning employment of former Confederate officers, according to the Senate Historical Office.
The vote today on the bill extending health care coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans brings Obama's closer to achieving his top domestic priority. The White House and Congress have now come farther toward the goal of a comprehensive overhaul of the US health care system than any of their predecessors.
But the final step may be the hardest: reconciling the Senate bill with a significantly different version already approved by the House of Representatives.
A compromise would have to be approved by both chambers - and could collapse if Obama loses the support of any Democrat in the Senate or a handful in the House.
After 24 days of consecutive debate - the Senate's second-longest such stretch ever - passage of the bill Thursday was all but inevitable. Yesterday, Democrats prevailed on the last of three procedural votes requiring the support of all 58 of its members, plus two allied independents. Thursday's vote will require only a simple majority of the 100-member body.
"It has been a long time coming," said a leading Democratic senator, Max Baucus. "I thank God that I have lived to see this day."
The bill's passage will offer Obama a bright end to an often rocky year that began with huge hopes following his election victory. His public approval level now hovers around 50 percent as he copes with high unemployment, increasing violence in Afghanistan and the divisive health care debate.
Obama delayed his Christmas vacation in Hawaii until the Senate vote, a sign of its importance to his presidency. The legislation will likely shape the 2010 congressional elections and possibly Obama's 2012 re-election bid.
Some liberal Democrats have not been enthusiastic about the Senate bill, which would leave about 24 million people uninsured. There are no plans for a government-run national health care system that would cover all Americans. Even a more modest proposal to have a government-run health plan compete with private insurers had to be stripped from the Senate bill in the face of opposition from moderate Democrats.
In an interview with PBS, Obama signaled he will sign a bill even if it lacks the provision.
"Would I like one of those options to be the public option? Yes," Obama said. "Do I think that it makes sense, as some have argued, that, without the public option, we dump all these other extraordinary reforms and we say to the 30 million people who don't have coverage, 'You know, sorry. We didn't get exactly what we wanted?' I don't think that makes sense."
Republicans have been almost unanimously against it, saying it will lead to higher taxes, greater deficits and government meddling in health care decisions. Sen. Orrin Hatch contended that it "just might wind up being the most widely hated legislation of the decade."
Instead, Obama's plan would build on the current system, in which health insurance is provided primarily by employers. Americans, for the first time, would be required to get coverage, and subsidies would be available to lower- and middle-income families. Unpopular insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions would be banned.
Whatever their reservations, most Democratic lawmakers backed Obama, recognizing they may never get a better opportunity to change a health care system that leaves nearly 50 million people uninsured. Democrats are in the rare position of controlling the White House while having strong majorities in both chambers of Congress.
That could change after the November midterm elections, when opposition parties frequently pick up seats. The health care bill itself could deepen Democratic losses. Republicans are targeting moderate Democrats from conservative states who supported the bill.
Obama and Democratic leaders have had to offer concessions and political favors to keep those moderate Democrats on board. In the House, Democratic leaders made compromises on abortion to win a narrow 220-215 vote on its health bill, with 39 of their own members opposing the bill. Crafting the Senate bill was even more difficult because Democrats needed the votes of all 60 of its members and allies to overcome Republican procedural hurdles.
The abortion provisions that clinched the House vote could prove a major obstacle to reconciling the two chambers' bills. The Senate has already rejected including that language in its version. Senators may also balk at the House's income tax increase for high-earning Americans.
Thursday's vote will be a rarity: the Senate's first Christmas Eve vote since 1895, when the matter at hand was a military affairs bill concerning employment of former Confederate officers, according to the Senate Historical Office.
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