Debate Begins Already on Emerging Health Care Bills
By David M. HerszenhornWho needs a motion to proceed?
Democratic Congressional leaders have yet to unveil a complete draft of the health care legislation, or formally take up the bill in either chamber. But in a sense floor debate is already underway – or at least day after day of dress rehearsals. Democrats and Republicans have already started given extensive floor speeches about health care.
In the Senate on Wednesday, a number of freshmen Democrats took to the floor to cheerlead for the developing legislation.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, said that patients who are given more information and a stronger role in making health care decisions often end up getting better results and saving money. “Armed with information these patients become empowered and equal partners in their health care,” Ms. Shaheen side, citing research by the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
“This is an exciting time,” Ms. Shaheen said. “Congress is closer than ever before to passing comprehensive health reform.”
Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, sought to answer Republican attacks in a deflective way, by praising and promoting various Republican amendments that were adopted by the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee when it debated its health care bill back in July.
“Republicans are quick to say the committee only accepted technical amendments, but that doesn’t appear to be for all cases,” Mr. Begich said. He cited an amendment by Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, that says a government-run insurance plan must meet all state insurance regulations.
“The amendment helps to ensure a level playing field between the public option and all the other health plans in each state’s insurance market,” Mr. Begich said. “That’s hardly technical. Or the bipartisan amendments supported by Senators Gregg and Enzi and Alexander. It allows employers to give bigger incentives to employees who participate in workplace wellness programs, which I think is a great idea. Something I implemented when I was the mayor of Anchorage.”
But the senators he named — Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, Michael B. Enzi, Republican of Wyoming, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee — are hardly fans of the Democrats’ health care legislation.
Indeed, Mr. Gregg was on the Senate floor just a few minutes later, attacking the Democrats’ bill, warning that it could harm the 170 million Americans who already have health insurance.
“As we move down this road towards health reform, we shouldn’t harm those folks,” Mr. Gregg said. “We shouldn’t push them into a public plan by creating a system which basically disincentivizes their employers to give them health care.”
Mr. Gregg warned that the legislation could encourage employers to pay a penalty and refuse to provide health benefits, rather than pay the high cost of premiums. And he reiterated the Republicans’ contention that the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, has been writing the final bill in secret. “One would not be surprised if that’s exactly what it does when it returns from this secret room,” he said.
Mr. Gregg also said that the Democrats’ legislation could lead to a government takeover of health care, effectively turning doctors into federal functionaries.
“Almost universally, we know that the best and the brightest people in our society for the most part go into medicine,” he said. “They become doctors. That’s just been our culture for a long time. But that culture will change, change fundamentally, when every doctor in this country is working for the government — when basically the doctors become bureaucrats.”
Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency Senator Tom Coburn
Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, and a family doctor who still practices, also gave a speech in which he said the Democrats’ health plan would drive the country further into debt.
“Medicare’s broke,” Mr. Coburn said. “Medicaid’s broke. Now what else is broke? The post office is broke. We know that. We just gave them $2 billion.” He added, “Fannie Mae’s broke. Freddie Mac is broke. Medicare’s broke. Medicaid’s broke. The country’s broke. And here in the midst of all this, we’re getting ready to add a $1 trillion program run by the very same individuals.”
As soon as Mr. Coburn finished speaking, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, was on the floor to rebut him. “I do want to take a moment to respond to my friend from Oklahoma who was essentially bashing the government’s ability to provide any kind of structure or opportunity for health care,” she said. Ms. Stabenow said that the 40 million people who receive health care through Medicare would probably disagree with that. “I think that my mother would probably wrestle me to the ground if I tried to take away her Medicare card,” she said.
Of course all this is just warm-up. Formal floor debate on the health care legislation could begin as soon as next week in the House, and sometime next month in the Senate. But as Wednesday’s Senate action showed, the wrestling has already begun in earnest.
I have shied away from posting much related to healthcare reform, but as things heat up… well, i simply can’t resist some article from the news media
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