Health Care Progress Report: November 23
The entire Senate will finally have a chance to deliberate health care reform legislation, after the Democrats on Saturday managed to eke out 60 votes to move their bill forward. Saturday's vote to start debate was an important one for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who aims to pass a bill before the year's end. He faces a number of challenges, however, that could keep the Senate from catching up with the House.
CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care
As Washington lawmakers work through the six major steps they need to complete to pass a health care reform bill, CBSNews.com is tracking their progress for you on the chart below. The House of Representatives passed a health care bill earlier this month, and it must wait for the Senate to do the same before either chamber can move on to the fourth step.
More on the progress of health care legislation in each chamber of Congress:
It is a good sign for Democrats that Reid was able to get the bill this far; most bills that pass the initial procedural vote to begin debate are eventually approved. Before there are any more votes on the bill, though, Reid has to guide negotiations over a number of contentious proposals, like the government-run health insurance plan or "public option," abortion coverage, and revenue-raising provisions.
As it currently stands, the bill Reid unveiled Wednesday night would extend coverage to 94 percent of eligible Americans at a cost of $849 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes and CBS News producer John Nolen explained the bill, point by point, on CBSNews.com's Political Hotsheet blog.
On reports that Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who votes with Democrats, said he would not vote for a bill without a public option.
Politics will no doubt come into play as Democrats in the Senate decide what to do about issues like the public option. Blanche Lincoln is particularly vulnerable to political considerations because she is up for re-election in 2010 in an increasingly Republican state. As soon as Lincoln revealed on Saturday she would vote in favor of moving the debate forward, the Republican party immediately issued a press release, the New York Times reports, making her sound responsible for the bill.
5571234HOUSE: House Democrats have to remain united as well, even though they passed their bill earlier this month. Once the Senate accomplishes the third step and approves its own bill, Democrats in the House and the Senate will have to combine their two plans in a conference committee. It could be difficult to fashion a single bill acceptable to Democrats in both chambers.
The House managed to pass a bill with a public option, but it remains to be seen if they will accept whatever version of the public option the Senate approves, if any. Meanwhile, some Democrats in the House the bill that comes out of conference if it still contains the abortion language added to the House bill. Abortion rights groups stepped up their lobbying campaign against the measure last week.
Female House members also took center stage to debate new breast cancer screening recommendations put forward by an independent panel. GOP congresswomen said last week the recommendations foreshadow the rationing they say the Democrats' health care plan will mandate. Democrats insisted the recommendations would not drive policy.
Meanwhile, the House last week passed in a separate bill a "Medicare fix" that prevents doctors from seeing a 20 percent pay cut from the federal program. The measure is not paid for and must still be approved in the Senate. Democrats have kept the measure separate from their comprehensive health care reform plan because they want the reform package to be deficit-neutral.