The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday will conduct its highly anticipated vote on its version of health reform legislation, the Washington Post reports (Murray/Montgomery, Washington Post, 10/13). According to The Hill, committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) needs 12 votes to ensure the bill progresses out of committee. With 13 Democrats on the panel, Baucus is expected to get the votes needed.
However, at least two Democratic members — Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) — have publicly stated opposition to some portions of the bill. Both have declined to say how they will vote (Young, The Hill, 10/12). Another Democrat, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), aligned with Republicans against some of the bill’s proposals during its markup, though many of her concerns appear to have been addressed, CQ Today reports. According to CQ Today, it is unlikely that the three Democrats will vote with the committee’s Republicans — who have roundly rejected the bill — to halt its progress (Armstrong, CQ Today, 10/9).
Meanwhile, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) — the only Republican on the panel who has shown some support for the overall bill — also has not disclosed whether she will vote for it on Tuesday (Haberkorn, Washington Times, 10/13). Last week, Snowe called the latest Congressional Budget Office cost analysis of the bill “promising,” an indication that shows her increasing comfort with the bill, CQ Today reports (CQ Today, 10/9).
Democrats have already begun their own internal negotiations aimed at reconciling the various measures passed by House and Senate committees. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Baucus and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) — who helped shepherd the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s health reform bill (S 1679) through the committee markup — are scheduled to meet this afternoon to discuss merging the Finance and HELP committee bills (Washington Post, 10/13). – Medical News Today