The Tolbert Report

It appears we are in for another long weekend of Washington debating health care. It began this morning with an announcement from Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska that he worked out a compromise on the bill and will vote for both cloture and the final bill. The Nelson Compromise gives some limited additional protection from abortion funding, by allowing states to opt out and requiring an option without abortion coverage, and additional funding for Medicare in his home state of Nebraska. With this vote, Majority Leader Harry Reid appears to have the votes needed for passing the bill. When a reporter asked Sen. Reid if he had a commitment from Sen. Blanche Lincoln, he said with a grin, “It seems that way.”

Full text of the amendment introduced this morning is available here, however this does not yet include scoring from the Congressional Budget Office. Sen. Lincoln previously committed not to vote for a bill unless “Legislative text and complete budget costs from the Congressional Budget Office to be posted on a public website at least 72 hours prior to the first vote to proceed to health reform legislation.” The discussions now are for a vote as earlier as Sunday night or early Monday morning, which bring up the question as to whether Lincoln will follow through with this commitment.

UPDATE - Sat. noon – CBO posts the scoring of the bill around noon (EST) on Saturday.

UPDATE II - Sat. 1:00 pm - Sen. Blanche Lincoln issues statement of the new language in the health care bill stoping just short of say if she will vote for it.  

“After years of trying, I believe we are close to achieving most of the goals for health insurance reform for Arkansas that I pledged to support in the beginning and without compromising my fiscal goals by adding to the deficit or creating a public option government health care plan that would be underwritten by taxpayers,” said Lincoln. 

Full statement on the jump.

UPDATE III – Sat. 3:00 pm – After over seven hours of reading the 383 page amendment to the Health Care Bill, the Senate picked back up debate.  Majority Leader Harry Reid immediately introduced what is called an amendment tree which blocks additional amendments from being offered.  A couple hours of debate will take place on Saturday before debate resumes at 1:00 pm EST on Sunday with the cloture vote scheduled for the middle of the night at 1:00 am Monday morning.

UPDATE IV - Sun. 3:00 pm – On a conference call with reporters this afternoon, Sen. Lincoln confirms that she will vote for the bill saying that it will help control the health care cost of Arkansans. She said that she was pleased with the language from compromise worked out over the last couple weeks and that the public option was taken out of the legislation.  She warned that she may not be able to support the version that comes out of conference if significant changes are made.

“After months of intense work and a full and transparent debate on the Senate floor, I will vote for the revised Senate health care plan because it will lower heath care costs, expand access to more than 400,000 uninsured Arkansans, and reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the next 10 years—all without a new government plan that places taxpayers at risk,” said Lincoln in a press release just after the call. Full press release on the jump.

UPDATE V – At 1:20 am Monday morning, the bill passes its first cloture vote by a party line 60 to 40 vote.  Sen. Lincoln and Pryor both vote for cloture of the health care bill.

More as it develops this weekend.

December 20, 2009

Lincoln: Time to act on health insurance reform

 

Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) today made the following statement on the Senate’s revised health care plan:

 

“The health insurance reform debate began nearly two years ago in the Senate Finance Committee.  The time to act is now.  

 

“After months of intense work and a full and transparent debate on the Senate floor, I will vote for the revised Senate health care plan because it will lower heath care costs, expand access to more than 400,000 uninsured Arkansans, and reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the next 10 years—all without a new government plan that places taxpayers at risk.

 

“It may not be the bill that I would have written, but through my hard work and the hard work of other members, the Senate bill has changed substantially and I believe this final product is a significant improvement from what we started with.

 

“This final Senate bill changes the way insurance companies do business to offer families more stability and to reassure our small businesses and the self-employed that health insurance companies will no longer dictate their bottom lines. 

 

“Under the new framework, no longer will you be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition.  No longer can your health insurance company raise your rates or drop you because you get sick.  You can continue to have coverage even if you lose your job.  Insurers will be penalized for unfair rate hikes. Seniors will receive the same guaranteed Medicare benefits or better benefits than they have today, despite disingenuous claims to the contrary.

 

“Small businesses will get the help they need to access coverage, placing them at the competitive advantage large corporations have enjoyed.  I successfully pushed for an additional $14 billion in tax credits for our small businesses, for a total of $38 billion. And I successfully pushed to eliminate the mandate on small business to purchase coverage. This means that Arkansas small businesses with less than 50 employees will not be required to cover their employees. In my conversations with Arkansas small business owners, I learned that while many small businesses wanted to provide coverage for their workers, they could not find affordable options. Now, small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance on newly-created health insurance exchanges with the tax credit that I authored.

 

 “Small businesses, the self-employed, their families, and other individuals will be able to shop for coverage among a range of quality, affordable, private insurance plans through the health insurance exchange to be established in Arkansas.  Within the exchanges, we have set up a program similar to the federal employees’ health program.  Insurance plans can be sold nationwide with a proven federal negotiator, the Office of Personnel Management that currently administers plans for federal employees, to help keep insurance rates affordable and ensure plans are abiding by fair rules. These are proposals I have advocated since 2004. 

 

“Now that the Senate is nearing the end of this long road, it is clear many of my goals have been met. Namely, this bill will expand access to 31 million Americans and more than 400,000 Arkansans, change the way insurance companies do business, and protect our seniors by closing the Medicare Part D ‘doughnut hole’ and ensuring seniors can receive quality Medicare benefits for years to come. It will do all of this without adding to our nation’s deficit and placing taxpayers at risk due to an unnecessary expansion of government — and I am proud to support the Senate’s final proposal.”

 ……………………………………………………………………………………….

December 19, 2009

Lincoln on Final Legislative Language of Senate’s Health Insurance Reform Bill

New text now available on Lincoln’s “Health Care Resources Page”:

http://www.lincoln.senate.gov/arkansas/healthcare.cfm

 

Washington–U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln today made the following statement upon the unveiling of the final legislative language and cost of the Senate’s health insurance reform bill:

“As I review the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the revised Senate health care bill, I can comment on what I do know.

“After years of trying, I believe we are close to achieving most of the goals for health insurance reform for Arkansas that I pledged to support in the beginning and without compromising my fiscal goals by adding to the deficit or creating a public option government health care plan that would be underwritten by taxpayers.

“These important changes in the American health care system will help get our economy back on track and reassure America’s small businesses and the self-employed that health insurance companies will no longer dictate their bottom line.

“There have been loud voices on both sides of the debate claiming that this bill either doesn’t do enough or would be harmful for the country. The truth is, we are changing the way insurance companies do business by forcing coverage of a pre-existing condition, preventing companies from dropping you when you get sick, and allowing you to keep your coverage even if you lose your job. We will expand coverage to more than 300,000 uninsured Arkansas workers and their families by forcing insurance companies to compete at an exchange and lower their costs. We will protect guaranteed Medicare coverage and benefits for our seniors. And, importantly, we have avoided creating a public option government health plan where taxpayers would assume the risk.

“I am encouraged that the coverage approach in the bill is modeled essentially after a plan I first introduced in 2004, including tax credits for small businesses; valuable insurance market rating reforms including prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition; health insurance “exchanges” through which small businesses and the self-employed can shop for coverage among a range of quality, affordable, private insurance plans; and the ability for insurance plans to be sold nationwide with a proven federal negotiator, the Office of Personnel Management that currently administers plans for federal employees, to help keep insurance rates affordable and ensure plans are abiding by fair rules.

“I am encouraged by the very large investment to ensure our small businesses can access coverage, placing them at the competitive advantage large corporations have enjoyed. And I am encouraged by CBO’s expectation that this bill would reduce federal budget deficits, a key goal of mine.

“After working in the Finance Committee for the last two years on various health insurance reform concepts and debating in the full Senate since November, I do not believe that we are rushing to judgment. In fact, we have had hundreds of member meetings, 11 hearings, three roundtable forums, one bipartisan summit, eight days of mark up in the committee, and a month of debate on the Senate floor. This has been a very full and healthy exercise of our democracy.

“In my ongoing commitment to transparency in the health care debate, I have posted this last piece of the Senate’s health insurance reform bill on my website, as I have done throughout this process.”

Lincoln encouraged Arkansans to visit her “Health Care Resources Page” to learn more: http://www.lincoln.senate.gov/arkansas/healthcare.cfm