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US Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) shakes hands with US Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) after the Committee passed the Democratic healthcare reform bill with a 14-9 vote - Source: Reuters -
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A key US Senate committee endorsed a sweeping healthcare
overhaul, gaining the support of an influential Republican and
delivering President Barack Obama a victory on his top domestic
priority.
The Democratic-controlled Senate Finance Committee approved the
measure on a 14-9 vote, with Senator Olympia Snowe becoming the
first Republican in Congress to back a healthcare reform
bill.
"Today we reached a critical milestone in our effort to reform our
healthcare system," Obama said after the vote, warning there were
still big challenges ahead for healthcare reform.
The bill, the last of five pending health measures to clear a
committee in Congress, will be merged with the Senate health
panel's version in the next few weeks for a full Senate debate and
floor votes.
Snowe, who had been courted by Obama and his fellow Democrats, said
she still had reservations about the overhaul and could not
guarantee her continued support as it advances.
"My vote today is my vote today. It doesn't forecast what my vote
will be tomorrow," Snowe said.
Health insurer companies stocks fell on fears reform was gaining
steam and would hurt profits if it passed.
The S&P Managed Health Care index of large health insurers
was down 1.9%.
Snowe's support for the bill definitively shifts the political
balance in Democrats' favour, healthcare equities analyst Avik Roy
said.
The vote gave another shot of momentum to the healthcare drive and
was good news for Obama, who has been criticized for taking too
much on board from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to climate change
and gay rights.
The proposal drafted by Democratic Chairman Max Baucus was designed
to reduce costs, regulate insurers and expand coverage.
"Pretty much everything has been said and now it's time to get the
job done," Baucus said.
"Americans are looking for common-sense solutions."
Republicans condemned the plan as a costly and heavy-handed
government intrusion into the private healthcare sector and said
the measure would get even worse as it moves forward.
Slippery slope
"We can now see clearly that the bill continues its march
leftward," said Senator Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on
the panel.
"This bill is already moving on a slippery slope to more
government control of healthcare."
Snowe's support could give Democrats a crucial swing vote as they
try to hold the 60 Senate votes needed to overcome procedural
roadblocks.
Democrats control exactly 60 seats in the 100-member
Senate.
Two weeks of panel debate left the key elements of the committee
plan intact.
Support was strengthened by last week's estimate from
non-partisan analysts that it would cost $US829 billion - well
below Obama's target of $US900 billion - and meet the president's
goal of reducing the budget deficit.
But the final bill drew criticism on a variety of fronts, with
advocates saying it should cover more of the uninsured and labour
unions opposing its tax on expansive insurance plans, which would
hit some unions.
"Senate leaders must make major improvements in the bill before it
moves to the floor of the US Senate," said Gerald McEntee,
president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, one of about 30 unions that will sponsor ads opposing
the measure.
Snowe and Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln, a moderate from
Arkansas, urged Baucus to make sure the Finance Committee bill was
not drastically altered in the merger with the Senate health
panel.
Baucus said after the vote he was not concerned with how long the
merger of the two Senate bills might take but was more interested
in producing a balanced final product.
"Let's make sure we get the merger right. Let's not botch it," he
told reporters.
The Senate Finance Committee bill requires all US citizens and
legal residents to have health insurance and provides subsidies on
a sliding scale to help them buy it.
It would create state-based exchanges where individuals and small
businesses would shop for insurance and would bar insurers from
refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions or dropping
those with serious illnesses.
The bill does not include a government-run public insurance option
backed by Obama and liberal Democrats as a way to create
competition for insurers.
Republican critics say that approach would undermine the private
insurance industry.
All three bills in the House of Representatives and the other
Senate bill, passed by the Health Committee, include a public
insurance option.
Supporters have vowed a Senate floor fight over the issue.
Any bill produced by the Senate ultimately will have to be merged
with the House's final bill. Democratic leaders in the House are
working to merge their three measures into a single bill for House
action.
Democratic senators condemned an attack on Monday on the Senate
Finance bill by the insurance industry, which paid for a report
charging the bill would drive up costs and insurance
premiums.
"The insurance industry ought to be ashamed of this report," said
Democratic Senator John Kerry.
"The results were simply not valid."
