After agreeing tentatively to jettison a key liberal priority — a full-blown government-run insurance option — Senate Democrats woke up Wednesday to some positive signs for the fragile coalition backing President Barack Obama's health care bill.
A much-courted moderate — Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman — signaled he might be able to live with a compromise to offer private insurance plans under the auspices of the federal employee health program while also allowing middle-aged people to buy into Medicare. Liberal Democrats also spoke out in favor of the idea.
"I am encouraged by the progress toward a consensus," Lieberman said in a statement that also underscored his opposition to any new government insurance plan that would compete with private carriers.
Meanwhile, former presidential candidate and one-time Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said the Medicare option for people age 55 to 64 was "a positive step forward."
SOURCE: Associated Press > Yahoo News
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Health Care Deal?
Democrats in the Senate announced last night that they had struck a deal on a health care bill which could allow for approval of a bill before Christmas. But they offered almost no details of the agreement.
Yep, you read that right.
"We can't disclose the details of what we've done, but believe me, it's something good," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the hallway just outside the Senate chamber.
Reid though tried to shoot down reports that the tentative deal does away with the controversial public insurance option.
"It's not true, okay? Everyone understand that," Reid said flatly.
But that wasn't stopping my colleagues from filing stories that contradicted the Nevada Democrat, as news reports indicated the public option was dead, to be replaced by other items, like opening up Medicare ten years early at age 55 for the uninsured.
What else is in the deal?
"You're not going to get answers to those questions," Reid said sternly.
So there you have it. A deal hatched behind closed doors by ten Democratic Senators that seems to have some major differences to the bill unveiled before Thanksgiving.
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
Yep, you read that right.
"We can't disclose the details of what we've done, but believe me, it's something good," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the hallway just outside the Senate chamber.
Reid though tried to shoot down reports that the tentative deal does away with the controversial public insurance option.
"It's not true, okay? Everyone understand that," Reid said flatly.
But that wasn't stopping my colleagues from filing stories that contradicted the Nevada Democrat, as news reports indicated the public option was dead, to be replaced by other items, like opening up Medicare ten years early at age 55 for the uninsured.
What else is in the deal?
"You're not going to get answers to those questions," Reid said sternly.
So there you have it. A deal hatched behind closed doors by ten Democratic Senators that seems to have some major differences to the bill unveiled before Thanksgiving.
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
Progress in Senate Democratic health care talks
After agreeing tentatively to jettison a key liberal priority — a full-blown government-run insurance option — Democrats say they are getting close to pushing President Barack Obama's health care bill through the Senate.
"We've overcome a real problem that we had," Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in announcing what he called a "broad agreement" Tuesday night.
Officials said it included nonprofit national health plans administered by the Office of Personnel Management, which runs the popular federal employees' health plan, as well as opening Medicare to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, effective in 2011.
Greater government involvement would potentially kick in if private insurance companies declined to participate in the nationwide plan, although details weren't available. One possibility was for the personnel office to set up a government-run plan, either national in scope or on a state-by-state basis.
"I think when people see this they'll really like what we've done," said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who was among five moderate senators who spent several days negotiating with five liberals. Reid planned to describe the plan in greater detail after getting an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.
SOURCE: Associated Press > Yahoo News
"We've overcome a real problem that we had," Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in announcing what he called a "broad agreement" Tuesday night.
Officials said it included nonprofit national health plans administered by the Office of Personnel Management, which runs the popular federal employees' health plan, as well as opening Medicare to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, effective in 2011.
Greater government involvement would potentially kick in if private insurance companies declined to participate in the nationwide plan, although details weren't available. One possibility was for the personnel office to set up a government-run plan, either national in scope or on a state-by-state basis.
"I think when people see this they'll really like what we've done," said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who was among five moderate senators who spent several days negotiating with five liberals. Reid planned to describe the plan in greater detail after getting an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.
SOURCE: Associated Press > Yahoo News
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
