WASHINGTON — Democratic Senate negotiators struck a tentative agreement tonight to drop the controversial government-run insurance plan in their version of health-care legislation, hoping to remove one of the last major roadblocks preventing the bill from moving to a final vote in the chamber.
Under the deal, the government plan, preferred by liberals, would be replaced with a program that would create several national insurance policies administered by private companies but negotiated by the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees health policies for federal workers.
If private firms were unable to deliver acceptable national policies, a government plan would be created.
In addition, people as young as 55 would be permitted to buy into Medicare, the popular federal health program for retirees. And private insurance companies would face stringent new regulations, including a requirement that they spend at least 90 cents of every dollar they collect in premiums on medical services for their customers.
“We have a broad agreement,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters at the Capitol. “Tonight, we’ve overcome a real problem that we had.”
The announcement came after six days of negotiations between five liberals and five moderates who had been tasked by Reid to work out their differences on the public option. Appearing with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the leader of the liberal faction, and Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., the moderate leader, Reid declined to detail the agreement, pending a review by congressional budget analysts.
However, when asked whether the agreement means the end is in sight after nearly a year of work on President Barack Obama’s most important domestic initiative, Reid smiled. “The answer’s yes,” he said.
According to a Democrat briefed on the talks, the deal represents only an agreement among the 10 negotiators to send the new package to congressional budget analysts, not an agreement to support its elements.
Democrats must also win the approval of several key lawmakers who have not been involved in the talks.
If the Senate approves the agreement, it will face a huge obstacle in the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has fought hard to preserve a public plan in the face of opposition from House moderates.
Abortion restrictions are rejected
Earlier today, the Senate turned back an amendment that would have barred millions of Americans from purchasing subsidized insurance policies that cover abortion, as Democratic leaders struggled to maintain a delicate party coalition in their push for the legislation.
Both issues have made the $848 billion Senate bill move forward slowly, despite Reid’s pledge to hold a final vote before Christmas.
The abortion amendment was rejected 54 to 45, with both Washington senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, voting with the majority.
Although the outcome of the vote was not a surprise, the amendment’s defeat could cost Reid the support of Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a conservative Democrat who has threatened to join a GOP filibuster bill unless restrictions on abortion are tightened.
The House version of the health-care bill includes language that would restrict funding for abortions.
What’s next
A series of pending amendments, including several popular measures, must be resolved before Reid can begin ending debate on the bill and calling a final vote.
Wednesday, the Senate is expected to consider a bipartisan effort to allow cheaper prescription drugs to be imported from Canada and other countries. And a group of Senate Democratic freshmen are pushing a package of cost-control provisions, including an expansion of an independent Medicare advisory board that would allow it to recommend changes to the entire health-care system.
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