-
Source: Reuters -
Related
US congressional Democrats prepared for a final push to pass
healthcare reform without Republican support, even as President
Barack Obama said he would explore adding more Republican ideas to
his proposal.
House of Representatives Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said he saw
the possibility of gaining support for Obama's sweeping healthcare
overhaul from Democrats who voted no when the House considered it
in November.
"We're talking to everybody," Hoyer said. "Do I think there is a
possibility of some people changing? Yes I do."
Obama is expected to announce his plans on Wednesday for forging
ahead with an overhaul of the $3.5 trillion healthcare system, with
Democrats preparing to use a procedure called reconciliation that
allows Senate approval by a simple majority vote.
That approach, which can be used only for budget-related measures,
would bypass rules that require 60 votes to clear procedural
hurdles in the 100-member Senate. Reconciliation needs only a
simple Senate majority of 51 votes.
With congressional elections approaching in November, Democrats are
anxious to move past the healthcare debate and talk about job
creation and the economy.
In a letter to congressional leaders from both parties, Obama said
he was considering adding ideas offered by Republicans last week at
a day-long healthcare summit but did not agree with their demand
for a more incremental approach.
Obama said he was open to Republican ideas for undercover probes of
healthcare providers who get federal money, to expanding health
savings accounts and to providing more grants to study alternatives
to medical malpractice lawsuits.
"I said throughout this process that I'd continue to draw on the
best ideas from both parties, and I'm open to these proposals in
that spirit," Obama said in the letter.
Democrats in the Senate and House passed healthcare bills last year
that would reshape the industry by cutting costs, regulating
insurers and expanding coverage to tens of millions of
Americans.
But efforts to merge the different measures and send a final
version to Obama collapsed in January after Democrats lost their
crucial 60th Senate seat in a special election in
Massachusetts.
Two-step process
Using reconciliation to pass the final healthcare bill would be a
two-step process.
The House would approve the Senate-passed bill and changes to
the Senate bill sought by the House would be passed separately
through reconciliation.
Many of those changes, such as adjustments to a tax on high-cost
insurance plans and additional federal subsidies to make coverage
more affordable, were incorporated in a proposal released by Obama
last week.
He is expected to adjust that package as part of his announcement
on Wednesday and his letter appeared to signal some of the
additional Republican proposals he will add.
Democrats still face a challenge in getting the measure through the
House, which passed the overhaul with only three votes to spare in
November.
Hoyer said he was confident of winning more Democratic converts
because "when bills change, members look at it somewhat
differently."
Republicans have criticized any effort to use reconciliation on the
healthcare bill, even though they have used it to pass bills at
least 14 times since 1980.
"Democrats are saying they want a simple up-or-down vote on
healthcare. What they really want is to jam their vision of
healthcare through Congress over the objections of a public that
they seem to think is too ill-informed to notice," Senate
Republican leader Mitch McConnell said.
Republicans plan to raise many objections and offer a flood of
amendments during the process, hoping to extend the debate and
force Democrats into multiple difficult votes ahead of November's
election.
