Snowe, Some Democrats Hesitate To Support Finance Reform Package

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The Wall Street Journal reports that Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine continues to be a key swing vote as the Senate Finance Committee wraps up its work in its health bill version and prepares to move it to the Senate floor. "Early Friday, Ms. Snowe said she was not sure how she would vote. 'I've got to review the document and go from there,' she said of the revised bill. 'There's a lot to think about.'" Baucus has tried to woo Snowe to the Democrat side since he began trying to forge a bipartisan consensus. "Ms. Snowe's concerns strike at the heart of the dilemma facing lawmakers as they move closer to passing the biggest health legislation in decades. To prevent people from being forced to buy insurance they can't afford, lawmakers must either offer larger tax credits to lower earners that offset the cost of premiums or exempt more Americans from the new requirement to carry insurance" (Adamy and Hitt, 10/5).

The Washington Post reports that Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden and John Rockefeller remain undecided on their support of the Finance reform bill. "If all 10 Republicans on the panel vote no, two Democratic defections would be enough to send Baucus and the Obama White House scrambling to regroup. … To assemble the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, Obama needs to hold every Democrat and independent in the Senate" (Connolly, 10/5).

Finally, The New York Times reports on still another Democrat on the Finance Committee, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, of Arkansas: "More than anyone else on the committee, Mrs. Lincoln represented the fiscally conservative, centrist Democrats who could decide the fate of the health care bill and who are a main focus of the White House and party leaders as the action shifts to the Senate floor" (Herszenhorn, 10/4).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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