Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

House health bill unacceptable to many in Senate

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-09 19:41

WASHINGTON: Don't look for the Senate to quickly follow the House on health care overhaul.

President Barack Obama speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House about health care reform and Iraq's new electoral law after returning from Camp David Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Washington. [Agencies]

A government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate. They're locked in a battle with liberals, with the fate of President Barack Obama's signature issue at stake.

Related readings:  House health care bill has nowhere to go in Senate  US House approves health care reform measure  President Obama sees progress on health insurance reform  Senate's decade health fix to cost $856B  Obama presses case for health care reform

If a government plan is part of the deal, "as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent whose vote Democrats need to overcome GOP filibusters.

"The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.

Democrats did not line up to challenge him. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has yet to schedule floor debate and hinted last week that senators may not be able to finish health care this year.

Nonetheless, the House vote provided an important lesson in how to succeed with less-than-perfect party unity, and one that Senate Democrats may be able to adapt. House Democrats overcame their own divisions and broke an impasse that threatened the bill after liberals grudgingly accepted tougher restrictions on abortion funding, as abortion opponents demanded.

In the Senate, the stumbling block is the idea of the government competing with private insurers. Liberals may have to swallow hard and accept a deal without a public plan to keep the legislation alive. As in the House, the compromise appears to be to the right of the political spectrum.

Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who voted for a version of the Senate bill in committee, has given the Democrats a possible way out. She's proposing to allow a government plan, if after a few years premiums keep escalating and local health insurance markets remain in the grip of a few big companies. This is the "trigger" option.

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page