You are here: Home » News

Senate health care bill reaches 60 pledged votes

By Andrew Slade, Gavel Media Team, on December 21, 2009 12:39 PM

By Andrew Slade, News Editor -

Nearly a year ago, President Barack Obama assumed office and charged Congress with the task of bringing about comprehensive health care reform. Now, just days before Christmas, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is said to have in order the 60 votes required for passage.

Vote number 60 came from Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), who had expressed concern over language in the bill that could have allowed for the subsidization of abortions with federal funds. Ultimately, concessions had to be made by liberals to win the support of Nelson and other moderate Democrats and independents.

The most significant part of this compromise that has produced a viable bill is the lack of a public option, which would allow Americans to obtain health coverage from the federal government rather than private insurers. This was a sticking point for Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), whose state is home to several major insurance corporations.

The House of Representatives approved its own version of a reform bill last month, with a public option included. While many anticipate this major difference between the two houses to be a point of contention when a final version of the bill is written up in conference, some believe the House will back down without much prodding, based on data released recently by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

According to The New York Times, CBO reports indicate “virtually no difference in the number of people who would gain health insurance coverage with the public option removed from the plan.” This same analysis states public option or not, the Senate’s bill would reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 31 million over the next 10 years. Over the same period of time, CBO studies show that implementing the measures outlined in the Senate bill will cost taxpayers $871 billion. This amount is expected to be offset entirely by new revenue and lessened government spending on existing programs like Medicare. Based on current projections, this could reduce deficits over the next decade by $132 billion.

With its three-fifths supermajority, Senate Democrats have the ability to bring cloture to any Republican attempt to filibuster the bill in its present state. Republicans therefore have no further procedural options to stop its passage, though Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has vowed to “fight until the last vote,” and continue the battle over public opinion.

Republicans have long been opposed to expanded government involvement in health care funding. Frustrations among GOP leaders have grown of late, as many see the Democrats’ effort to force through a bill without the support of a single Republican as a way of forcing their agenda onto the people without allowing for bipartisan discourse. “This process is not legislation. This process is corruption,” said Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).

In response to questions of how he feels about the Senate’s closeness to passing a bill for health care reform, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called this the “most significant legislative first year of a first-term president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.” That being said, many Democrats have expressed disappointment in the “compromise” version of the bill.

Disappointment seems prevalent among the general public as well, as Pollster found 52 percent of Americans expressing disapproval of Obama’s handling of health care reform. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released last week shows that just 37 percent believe the quality of health care under the new plan will be better than that which they presently experience.

If all goes as planned, the Senate will pass its version of the bill before Christmas, after which point it will be sent to conference where members of both houses will reconcile differences between the two versions before sending it to the president for his signature.