Bishops, Unions Push for Health Bill as Lawmakers Look to Obama
Author: mosup
Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Labor unions, the nation's top physicians' association and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are pushing for a renewed effort to pass health-care legislation amid signs that the chance might slip away.
Each group slowed work on the legislation in recent months as they demanded changes on issues ranging from abortion to doctors' payments to a tax on high-end health benefits. All now say failure isn't acceptable after the Democrats' loss of a Senate seat derailed the original plans for passage.
Democrats pledged to move forward, with party leaders considering using a parliamentary maneuver in the Senate that would let them circumvent Republican opposition. Some say they need more guidance from President Barack Obama, who will give his State of the Union address to Congress tonight.
“One way or another, we will go forward,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters today in Washington. “We will make every effort to have a health-care bill. But we will make progress, whatever it is.”
The legislation is designed to cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans while attempting to curb rising medical costs. The House and Senate passed versions last year, both of which included a requirement to buy insurance, new online purchasing exchanges and expanded government aid.
Days Away
House and Senate lawmakers were days away from overcoming differences and melding their bills when the Jan. 19 special election in Massachusetts deprived Democrats of the 60th vote they needed to get the new compromise through the Senate. Now, lawmakers are struggling to come up with new ideas and calling on Obama for leadership.
“We're not getting good guidance from the mother ship,” New York Representative Anthony Weiner said after a meeting of House Democrats yesterday. “He needs to give us some legislative marching orders here. Anything less is going to be seen as acquiescence to us walking away from it.”
Pelosi, a California Democrat, said she doesn't have the votes for the House to pass the Senate bill as is, a method that would send the bill straight to Obama's desk to be signed into law. Democrats are instead considering passing a companion bill that would make fixes to the Senate measure and could be approved through a budget process that requires just 51 votes.
That so-called reconciliation process could also be used for a whole new bill in each chamber. Pelosi has been exhorting House members to “keep an open mind” about the method, Virginia Democrat Gerald Connolly said in an interview.
‘Apocalyptic Rhetoric'
“I am sensing from some Democrats that, the more they think about it, the more they can appreciate that may be a viable, if not the viable, vehicle for getting health-care reform done,” Connolly said. “The apocalyptic rhetoric needs to end, and we need to focus on a strategy.”
Others aren't so sure. Some advocate starting again and seeking Republican support or passing a series of smaller bills.
“Many feel that the two bills that exist now are fraught with so many problems that we probably just need to start over,” Representative Allen Boyd, a Florida Democrat, told reporters today.
The White House had already negotiated an agreement on one of the biggest points of contention, limiting a so-called Cadillac tax on high-end benefits targeted by labor unions. House Democrats also want to remove provisions in the Senate bill singling out Nebraska and Louisiana for special aid in paying for an expansion of the Medicaid health program for the poor.
Depending on Senate
“Watching the Senate for the last year and a half, I don't know if I depend on them passing anything that would correct what they did in their bill,” Representative Gene Green, a Texas Democrat, said yesterday.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Congress yesterday urging lawmakers to work in a bipartisan way toward passage.
The debate “seems to have lost its central moral focus and policy priority, which is to ensure that affordable, quality, life-giving care is available to all,” the group wrote. “Now is not the time to abandon this task.”
The American Medical Association sounded a similar theme, urging Obama and Congress to “enact meaningful health-system reform this year.”
Andy Stern, the president of the Service Employees International Union, was more specific.
“The only path forward is to do something comprehensive,” Stern said yesterday at a jobs forum in Washington. “Take the Senate bill and fix it through reconciliation.”
Nelson on Board
While some Senate Democrats, including Evan Bayh of Indiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, have expressed opposition to using reconciliation, others are on board. Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, who was the last Democratic holdout in December, said he would back the process as long as he agreed with the bill.
Whichever path they choose, some lawmakers warned that time and patience may be running thin on an issue that has lost public support over the past year.
“It's time to fish or cut bait rather than working around the edges,” said New Jersey Representative William Pascrell.
Each group slowed work on the legislation in recent months as they demanded changes on issues ranging from abortion to doctors' payments to a tax on high-end health benefits. All now say failure isn't acceptable after the Democrats' loss of a Senate seat derailed the original plans for passage.
Democrats pledged to move forward, with party leaders considering using a parliamentary maneuver in the Senate that would let them circumvent Republican opposition. Some say they need more guidance from President Barack Obama, who will give his State of the Union address to Congress tonight.
“One way or another, we will go forward,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters today in Washington. “We will make every effort to have a health-care bill. But we will make progress, whatever it is.”
The legislation is designed to cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans while attempting to curb rising medical costs. The House and Senate passed versions last year, both of which included a requirement to buy insurance, new online purchasing exchanges and expanded government aid.
Days Away
House and Senate lawmakers were days away from overcoming differences and melding their bills when the Jan. 19 special election in Massachusetts deprived Democrats of the 60th vote they needed to get the new compromise through the Senate. Now, lawmakers are struggling to come up with new ideas and calling on Obama for leadership.
“We're not getting good guidance from the mother ship,” New York Representative Anthony Weiner said after a meeting of House Democrats yesterday. “He needs to give us some legislative marching orders here. Anything less is going to be seen as acquiescence to us walking away from it.”
Pelosi, a California Democrat, said she doesn't have the votes for the House to pass the Senate bill as is, a method that would send the bill straight to Obama's desk to be signed into law. Democrats are instead considering passing a companion bill that would make fixes to the Senate measure and could be approved through a budget process that requires just 51 votes.
That so-called reconciliation process could also be used for a whole new bill in each chamber. Pelosi has been exhorting House members to “keep an open mind” about the method, Virginia Democrat Gerald Connolly said in an interview.
‘Apocalyptic Rhetoric'
“I am sensing from some Democrats that, the more they think about it, the more they can appreciate that may be a viable, if not the viable, vehicle for getting health-care reform done,” Connolly said. “The apocalyptic rhetoric needs to end, and we need to focus on a strategy.”
Others aren't so sure. Some advocate starting again and seeking Republican support or passing a series of smaller bills.
“Many feel that the two bills that exist now are fraught with so many problems that we probably just need to start over,” Representative Allen Boyd, a Florida Democrat, told reporters today.
The White House had already negotiated an agreement on one of the biggest points of contention, limiting a so-called Cadillac tax on high-end benefits targeted by labor unions. House Democrats also want to remove provisions in the Senate bill singling out Nebraska and Louisiana for special aid in paying for an expansion of the Medicaid health program for the poor.
Depending on Senate
“Watching the Senate for the last year and a half, I don't know if I depend on them passing anything that would correct what they did in their bill,” Representative Gene Green, a Texas Democrat, said yesterday.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Congress yesterday urging lawmakers to work in a bipartisan way toward passage.
The debate “seems to have lost its central moral focus and policy priority, which is to ensure that affordable, quality, life-giving care is available to all,” the group wrote. “Now is not the time to abandon this task.”
The American Medical Association sounded a similar theme, urging Obama and Congress to “enact meaningful health-system reform this year.”
Andy Stern, the president of the Service Employees International Union, was more specific.
“The only path forward is to do something comprehensive,” Stern said yesterday at a jobs forum in Washington. “Take the Senate bill and fix it through reconciliation.”
Nelson on Board
While some Senate Democrats, including Evan Bayh of Indiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, have expressed opposition to using reconciliation, others are on board. Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, who was the last Democratic holdout in December, said he would back the process as long as he agreed with the bill.
Whichever path they choose, some lawmakers warned that time and patience may be running thin on an issue that has lost public support over the past year.
“It's time to fish or cut bait rather than working around the edges,” said New Jersey Representative William Pascrell.
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