casper
11-19-2009, 08:56 AM
Reid unveils broad U.S. Senate healthcare plan
By John Whitesides and Donna Smith
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid released a long-awaited healthcare reform plan on Wednesday that budget analysts said would extend coverage to tens of millions of the uninsured and reduce the deficit over 10 years.
After weeks of closed-door talks to combine two Senate measures, the publication of Reid's 2,074-page bill quickly set off what promises to be a lengthy and bitter debate over President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.
"Tonight begins the last leg of this journey," Reid told reporters after meeting privately with Senate Democrats.
The Senate bill includes a government-run insurance option that lets states choose whether to participate and would halt industry practices like denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions.
Obama applauded the Senate legislation, calling it "another critical milestone" in the push for healthcare reform, but Republicans condemned it as a costly government intrusion into the private healthcare sector.
The bill's publication clears the way for a Senate vote as soon as this weekend on whether to begin debate -- the first key procedural hurdle for the Senate plan.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office put the plan's 10-year cost at $849 billion -- below Obama's $900 billion goal.
The CBO analysis said the plan would reduce the deficit by $130 billion over 10 years, with small reductions in the second decade, and extend coverage to 31 million more Americans -- a rosy report card that could boost the bill's prospects in a sharply divided Senate.
The Senate bill is less expensive than a more than $1 trillion healthcare measure passed on November 7 in the House of Representatives. That bill would have covered at least 5 million more uninsured.
Republicans criticized tax increases in the bill to help pay for the expanded insurance coverage, including a new tax on elective cosmetic surgery they dubbed a "Botox tax."
The bill would also raise the Medicare payroll tax on high-income workers, which is used to finance the government health program for the elderly, and impose a tax on high-cost "Cadillac" insurance plans.
Reid's version of the Cadillac tax is scaled back slightly from the version in the Senate Finance Committee that drew the ire of labor unions, a key Democratic constituency, which said it would harm middle-income workers.
'NOT A SHORT DEBATE'
"This bill has been behind closed doors for weeks. Now, it's America's turn, and this will not be a short debate," Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said. "Higher premiums, tax increases and Medicare cuts to pay for more government -- the American people know that is not reform."
If the Senate passes a bill, any differences with the House version would have to be reconciled before a final bill can be voted on again in both houses and sent to Obama to sign.
By John Whitesides and Donna Smith
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid released a long-awaited healthcare reform plan on Wednesday that budget analysts said would extend coverage to tens of millions of the uninsured and reduce the deficit over 10 years.
After weeks of closed-door talks to combine two Senate measures, the publication of Reid's 2,074-page bill quickly set off what promises to be a lengthy and bitter debate over President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.
"Tonight begins the last leg of this journey," Reid told reporters after meeting privately with Senate Democrats.
The Senate bill includes a government-run insurance option that lets states choose whether to participate and would halt industry practices like denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions.
Obama applauded the Senate legislation, calling it "another critical milestone" in the push for healthcare reform, but Republicans condemned it as a costly government intrusion into the private healthcare sector.
The bill's publication clears the way for a Senate vote as soon as this weekend on whether to begin debate -- the first key procedural hurdle for the Senate plan.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office put the plan's 10-year cost at $849 billion -- below Obama's $900 billion goal.
The CBO analysis said the plan would reduce the deficit by $130 billion over 10 years, with small reductions in the second decade, and extend coverage to 31 million more Americans -- a rosy report card that could boost the bill's prospects in a sharply divided Senate.
The Senate bill is less expensive than a more than $1 trillion healthcare measure passed on November 7 in the House of Representatives. That bill would have covered at least 5 million more uninsured.
Republicans criticized tax increases in the bill to help pay for the expanded insurance coverage, including a new tax on elective cosmetic surgery they dubbed a "Botox tax."
The bill would also raise the Medicare payroll tax on high-income workers, which is used to finance the government health program for the elderly, and impose a tax on high-cost "Cadillac" insurance plans.
Reid's version of the Cadillac tax is scaled back slightly from the version in the Senate Finance Committee that drew the ire of labor unions, a key Democratic constituency, which said it would harm middle-income workers.
'NOT A SHORT DEBATE'
"This bill has been behind closed doors for weeks. Now, it's America's turn, and this will not be a short debate," Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said. "Higher premiums, tax increases and Medicare cuts to pay for more government -- the American people know that is not reform."
If the Senate passes a bill, any differences with the House version would have to be reconciled before a final bill can be voted on again in both houses and sent to Obama to sign.