Senate Health Care Bill in Home Stretch
December 22, 2009 - After many hours of debate and deliberation, Senate consideration of health care reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, H.R. 3590, appears headed toward passage by the chamber. In a series of votes on Monday and Tuesday, the Senate voted with a three-fifths majority of 60 senators along party lines to block a Republican filibuster and then pass a manager's amendment to the legislation. The amendment was offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Dec. 19 and secured the votes of all 58 Senate Democrats and both independent senators. The after-hours procedural vote was seen as necessary to permit a final vote on the legislation before Christmas. Included in the carefully-crafted compromise language are limitations on the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions; a removal of the public insurance option; tightened restrictions on insurance companies; and an expansion of delivery system and payment reforms.
After the scramble to get the support of the requisite 60 members of Congress, it now appears that the Senate will be able to pass their version of the legislation on Christmas Eve with even a simple majority of 51 senators. While clearly a significant victory for the Obama administration on one of his top domestic priorities, the battle is far from over as any Senate-passed legislation would still have to go into conference with the House-passed version. In a House/Senate conference, legislators face the daunting task of reconciling the two vastly different bills to construct one unified piece of legislation that could gain the needed support in both houses of Congress. Democrats are hoping to produce this compromise version in time to be signed by President Obama in late January.