Healthcare reform updates

It looks like there are now sixty votes in the Senate for passing healthcare reform legislation as Senator Ben Nelson has agreed to a compromise on abortion funding:

Under Mr. Reid’s amendment, states would have the authority to bar coverage for abortions by new government-approved health insurance plans.

A section of the bill titled “state opt-out of abortion coverage” explains how this would work: “A state may elect to prohibit abortion coverage in qualified health plans offered through an exchange in such state if such state enacts a law to provide for such prohibition.”

Some health plans receiving federal subsidies could offer coverage for abortion, but they could not use federal money to pay for the procedure. They would have to use money taken from premiums paid by subscribers and would have to keep it separate from federal money.

The government would subsidize premiums for many low- and moderate-income people. Under Mr. Reid’s amendment, some health plans receiving federal subsidies could offer coverage for abortion, but they could not use federal money to pay for the procedure. They would have to use money taken from premiums paid by subscribers and would have to keep it separate from federal money. State insurance commissioners would police the “segregation of funds.”

There's still a long ways to go because House Democrats have to remain onboard since the Senate bill lacks features like a public option that House members voted for. (A comparison of the bills here.)

Jon Podesta from the Center for American Progress has posted his top ten reasons for supporting the Senate bill.

And I received this email from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today:

Dear Fellow Nevadan,

This morning I released the details of the final version of the health insurance reform bill. The bill will reduce the deficit by roughly $1.4 trillion over the next 20 years – more than twice the previous estimate – due to modifications we made over the past week. We strengthen patient protections, lowered consumer costs, improved our short-and long-term economic health and protected seniors by extending the solvency of Medicare by a decade and closing the “doughnut hole.”

Every day, nearly 200 people in Nevada lose their health insurance each day and too many file bankruptcy because of health care costs. Nevadans with health insurance will see their premiums decrease by up to $1,600 per year because of this bill. I am confident that this bill will be really good for Nevadans.

Every part of this long process – from passing two carefully crafted bills in committee, to merging them into one comprehensive bill, to reaching a final consensus – has been an enormous undertaking. From the very beginning, we knew the end result had to be a bill that saves lives, saves money and saves Medicare.

We knew that we had to stabilize insurance for everyone who has it and help secure it for millions who don’t. We had to lower the cost of staying healthy and reduce the national deficit. And we had to stop insurance companies from denying health care to the sick.

The bill we proposed a few weeks ago does every one of these things – and the revisions being read right now on the Senate floor are even stronger. The newest elements:

• Create new programs to further rein in health care costs;


• Give small businesses tax credits that will immediately go into effect


• Demand even greater accountability from insurance companies


• Create more choice and competition for consumers.

All of these things will help lower costs for Americans, and will finally level the playing field between American families and insurance companies.

Some on the left think this bill doesn’t go far enough, and that it should be stopped. While I, too, strongly prefer a public option, I also believe this bill, which will make millions of Americans’ lives better, is worth supporting.

Some on the right think this bill goes too far, and that it should be stopped. To them I say that the broken system cannot and will not continue. When President Obama signs this bill into law, we will officially end the era in which insurance companies win only when patients lose.

This bill is about improving patients’ health, protecting consumers’ rights, keeping insurance companies honest, strengthening our economy, and making the hard choices necessary to do what is right.

I hope that you will read this update and visit my website for more information.

HARRY REID
United States Senator for Nevada

(Video link)

Finally, Ezra Klein has several items on his blog today including a summary of some other changes in Reid's "manager's amendment" to the current Senate legislation and a summary of the latest report from the Congressional Budget Office.