Democrats Likely To Bypass Conference Committee To Reconcile Health Reform Bills

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 06 Jan 2010 - 3:00 PDT

As Congress continues to work on merging two versions of health reform legislation, it appears likely that Democratic leaders will bypass a formal conference to reconcile the bills, instead opting for an informal agreement to avoid further Republican stalling tactics, CQ Today reports. A senior aide to House Democratic leadership said the full House Democratic caucus will meet on Thursday to discuss the chamber's strategy. Meanwhile, Senate leadership has already started discussions, and aides said that leaders in both chambers have been conducting early bicameral talks (Armstrong, CQ Today, 1/4).

Politico reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will meet Tuesday afternoon with House Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (D-Calif.), House Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), House Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) -- the four chairs of panels with jurisdiction over the bill. In the meeting, Pelosi is expected to outline general parameters for shortened conference negotiations. Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Democratic Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) will then participate in a meeting with President Obama this evening to discuss the final bill. After keeping a low public profile during the House and Senate debate, the White House "is expected to take a very active role in melding the two bills," according to Politico (O'Connor, Politico, 1/4).

Democratic leaders are likely to use the so-called "ping-pong" process, in which updated versions of the legislation are sent back and forth between chambers for adoption until both pieces of legislation are identical, the New York Times' "Prescriptions" reports (Herszenhorn, "Prescriptions," New York Times, 1/4). The informal conference process would allow Democrats to bypass the need for a formal conference, which would involve three separate Senate motions that could be filibustered.

While the two bills are similar in some areas, there are significant differences on abortion coverage and other issues, CQ Today reports (CQ Today, 1/4). The House bill (HR 3962) includes an amendment by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) that bans insurance plans participating in the exchange that receive federal funds from offering abortion coverage except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman. The Stupak amendment also would prohibit insurance plans within the exchange from discriminating against health care providers or facilities that refuse to provide abortion services. The Senate's bill (HR 3590) includes a provision -- negotiated by Democratic leaders and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) -- that requires consumers receiving federal subsidies for insurance coverage who purchase plans covering abortion to write two separate premium checks -- one check to cover the bulk of their plan and the second check to cover the cost of abortion services. In addition, the language makes clear that individual states can decide whether to bar insurance plans participating in the exchange in their state from offering abortion coverage (Women's Health Policy Report, 1/4).

Other differences between the bills include a public plan option that is included in the House version but in not the Senate version, a Senate tax on high-cost insurance plans and various taxes on families of certain income levels, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 1/4).

According to "Prescriptions," only one revision of the House bill might be necessary to make it match the Senate's version. Under this scenario, the bill would then be sent to the Senate for approval and then to the White House for Obama's signature. Democratic leaders have said they would like to send Obama a final bill by early February, before he delivers the State of the Union address ("Prescriptions," New York Times, 1/4).

The House would have less leverage in the informal negotiations, and it has not yet agreed to the process. Senate Democrats have said the GOP's opposition to their version of the bill makes it essential that the House adopt the Senate version of the legislation with few or no changes, CQ Today reports (CQ Today, 1/4). Democrats will have to work to hold their caucus together, as several Senate moderates have threatened to vote against the final bill if it strays too far from the Senate version, the Los Angeles Times reports (Oliphant, Los Angeles Times, 1/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2010 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations