The following is from Kaiser Health News.
Senate Democrats will need to move quickly if they want to pass some version of health overhaul legislation by the end of the year.
The Associated Press: With "time growing short," Senate Democratic leaders "still face key decisions..." In the Senate, that "means deciding whether legislation will give the government a role in the marketplace at all, and if so, what rights individual states would have in deciding whether to participate." The Senate is weighing its final choices as negotiators work to merge the bills from Senate Finance and from Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees. The latest talks have focused around getting rid of any mandate on businesses to provide health insurance for their employees (Espo, 10/26).
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Senate's finalized health bill could be ready as soon as early this week, when the leaders will submit the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "spent the weekend shoring up support for the bill from Democrats in the chamber. But some key moderate Democrats signaled Sunday that they remain uneasy about main planks of the legislation." Although some details could change, the "broad outlines are becoming more clear" (Adamy and Hitt, 10/26).
Politico reports that Sen. Chuck Schumer also believes 60 votes are within sight. But "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Democrats still have work to do in rallying support within their ranks, pointing to last week’s overwhelming vote to strike down a so-called doc fix to Medicare physician reimbursement that would have added nearly $250 billion to the deficit. A group of Democrats crossed party lines on the vote" (Isenstadt, 10/25).
The New York Times: "Several Democratic senators voiced optimism on Sunday that Congress would pass a health care bill containing at least the germ of a government-run insurance program. Their expectations were grudgingly seconded by Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008. 'I think the Democrats have the votes, and in the House, Blue Dogs bark but never bite,' Mr. McCain said on CBS’s 'Face the Nation,' using the nickname for conservative Democrats."
Democrats who said they see a public plan passing include Sens. Claire McCaskill, of Missouri; Chuck Schumer, of New York; and Russ Feingold, of Wisconsin. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said he was willing to look at the proposal if the Senate allows states to opt out of that part of the plan (Berger, 10/25).
