KHN: Kaiser Health News
House Dems' Next Step In Health Reform: Repeal Of Insurance Antitrust
Exemption
Feb 03, 2010
Lawmakers "hoping to revive President Barack Obama's stalled health care
overhaul have started writing a compromise bill, but it's unclear when the
legislation will be ready for votes, a top House Democrat said Tuesday," The Associated Press reports. "The measure would change the
massive Senate-approved health bill to what bargainers from the White House,
Senate and House agreed to last month, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said in a
brief interview. ... The measure Rangel discussed would be a so-called
reconciliation bill, a seldom-used procedure that only requires a simple
majority of votes for Senate passage" (Fram, 2/2).
In the meantime, "House Democratic leaders plan to bring to the floor
next week a bill to repeal the exemption insurance companies have to antitrust
laws," says CongressDaily, adding: "That bill would kick off what
Speaker Pelosi has said could be a series of smaller, free-standing pieces of
health insurance-related legislation taken up as House and Senate Democratic
leaders continue to work toward a solution to passing a comprehensive
measure" (Edney and House, 2/3).
The Wall Street Journal reports that Democrats are hopeful
passage of this targeted provision would revive the momentum for larger health
reform. "[Democrats] say repealing the federal antitrust exemption would drive
insurance prices down in regions where one health insurer dominates. Insurers
say they already face tight regulation by the states, and the practical impact
of the move is uncertain" (Adamy and Yoest, 2/2).
Politico notes that Pelosi's move is meant as a "part of
her new two-track strategy to tackle things that won't be included in a more
sweeping bill c (t)he House bill would resemble a section of the House health
care bill that ends an exemption for health and medical malpractice insurers and
grants the federal government more authority to regulate antitrust laws. The
Senate didn't include an antitrust provision in its health care legislation
because (Reid) couldn't muster the 60 votes needed to include it" (O'Connor and
Budoff Brown, 2/3).
Roll
Call reports, though, that Democratic leaders "don't know" when they
will take up health care again: "'I anticipate making a decision just as soon as
the way forward is clear,'" House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said
Tuesday (Dennis, 2/2).
Fox News: "Hoyer indicated the Democratic brain trust was
considering a number of options, ranging from a conference committee to resolve
differences in the health bill, to using special budget rules that would allow
Democrats to bypass the supermajority requirement to quash Senate debate. He
also said it was possible that Democrats could break the broader bill into
smaller pieces of legislation. But Hoyer appeared skeptical of that option"
(Pergram, 2/2)
CQ HealthBeat: Reid "met with (Pelosi) Tuesday evening to
discuss the stalled efforts. ... 'We hope to be in a position in the near future
— don't put me down as to days or number of weeks — to move forward on health
care,' Reid said. 'We plan to do it this year and to do it as quickly as we
can'" (Armstrong and Wayne, 2/2).
The Hill: "Republicans say they have found a loophole in
the budget reconciliation process that could allow them to offer an indefinite
number of amendments. ... Experts on Senate procedural rules, from both
parties, note that such a filibuster is possible. While reconciliation rules
limit debate to 20 hours, senators lack similar constraints on amendments and
could conceivably continue offering them until 60 members agree to cut the
process off" (Bolton, 2/3).
The New
York Times: Meanwhile, President Obama talked Tuesday about the future of
health reform in the midst of a New Hampshire town hall meeting
otherwise dominated by jobs issues. Obama "rejected the notion
that the Massachusetts election doomed the health care overhaul. ... 'Well,
no, it's not over. We just have to make sure that we move methodically and that
the American people understand whatfs in the bill'" (Baker, 2/2).
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