Negotiations Continue As Senate Finance Committee Prepares To Release Health Reform Bill

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP;  Abortion;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 16 Sep 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Monday said the bipartisan "Gang of Six" negotiating group needs more time to discuss several outstanding details of its health reform bill, The Hill reports. The measure will now be released on Wednesday, a day later than originally anticipated, Baucus said (Young, The Hill, 9/14).

According to the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, members of the negotiating group emerged from a Monday meeting having "narrowed their differences on a host of difficult issues" -- such as prohibiting federal subsidies for undocumented immigrants to obtain health coverage and prohibiting federal dollars from being spent on abortion services -- in their bid to reach a bipartisan agreement on the bill.

Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a member of the Gang of Six, said the group was close to reaching consensus on ways to lower the cost of a proposal to extend Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the federal poverty level. Conrad said the group has also found some common ground on a verification system to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving federal assistance to purchase insurance and provisions related to funding for states to implement medical malpractice reforms.

On the issue of abortion, the negotiating group is working to extend to health care reform current rules that prohibit federal funding for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or when the woman's life is in danger (Alonzo-Zaldivar, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/15). Baucus noted that he is seeking "neutral" language that "maintains the status quo," adding, "I think it's important to remember here that this is a health care bill and not an abortion bill" (Pierce, Roll Call, 9/14).

According to the New York Times, committee documents reveal that negotiating group member Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has told colleagues that the committee's bill should "remain silent" on the issue of abortion (Pear/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 9/15).

On Tuesday, the negotiating group is expected to hold meetings with governors of several states about the Medicaid expansion plan. Many governors have expressed concern that the expansion would create unsustainable financial burdens for their states (Whitesides/Smith, Reuters, 9/14).

CBO Says Bill Would Cost $880B Over 10 Years

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Baucus' framework for the bill, which he circulated earlier this month, would cost less than $880 billion over 10 years (Herszenhorn, "Prescriptions," New York Times, 9/14). According to the Washington Post, the bipartisan negotiators were able to lower the cost of the proposal "to a more politically palatable" figure by reducing the size and breadth of subsidies intended to help U.S. residents purchase health coverage (Montgomery/Murray, Washington Post, 9/15).

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