Senate Finance Panel To Release Health Care Reform Plan This Week
On Friday, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announced that his committee's health reform bill could be released as early as Tuesday, Politico reports (Budoff Brown, Politico, 9/11).
Emerging from a meeting with the panel's so-called "Gang of Six" negotiators, Baucus suggested that it is time to proceed on completing a reform bill with or without Republican support.
Baucus noted that a bipartisan deal still could be possible during the mark-up stage, slated to begin the week of Sept. 21, Roll Call reports.
Baucus said, "We had a very good meeting today," adding, "Monday we'll meet in the hopes of reaching resolution. But again it's understood that we have to start making some decisions" (Drucker, Roll Call, 9/11).
Agenda for Final Meeting
According to CongressDaily, the Congressional Budget Office was expected to deliver to the committee on Friday a state-by-state score on the proposed Medicaid expansion in the bill.
On Monday, the committee is scheduled to discuss the scores with governors who have expressed concerns that the expansion could raise the financial burdens on their states (Edney, CongressDaily, 9/11).
Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a member of the negotiating group, said that the discussion with the governors will center on the proposal to extend Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the federal poverty level.
Conrad said that the issue "is still under discussion" and noted that "the federal government will bear the overwhelming share of the cost of those who are newly eligible."
Conrad also said that Monday's committee meeting will include discussions on provisions that would prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving federal subsidies to obtain health coverage and require some people to provide Social Security numbers to determine eligibility.
According to CQ Today, the committee also is expected to discuss final details on ensuring that abortion services will not be covered by federal funding and reviewing changes to current medical malpractice laws (Armstrong, CQ Today, 9/11).
House Waits for Baucus
According to CQ Today, the House appears to be waiting for Baucus before it takes action on health reform legislation.
Before a bill can reach the House floor, there will be a final day of markups on several amendments in the Energy and Commerce Committee.
A spokesperson for committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said that no date has been set for that session (CQ Today, 9/11). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.