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Massachusetts Election Muddies Reform Picture |
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Massachusetts
Election Muddies Reform Picture
The election of
Scott Brown to the United States Senate in Massachusetts on Tuesday is one of
the most talked-about political stories of the past year. An immediate
consequence of the surprising election result is that it has altered the course
of health care reform legislation in the U.S. Congress. The Democratic
majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate were working toward a
compromise bill that could achieve sufficient votes to pass each house, which
was a challenging task to begin with, but the election of Sen. Brown now gives
Senate Republicans the ability to block legislation in that chamber.
This, together with the much-debated political implications of the
Massachusetts vote, has led President Obama and congressional leaders to
re-evaluate how to proceed with health care reform. Among the leading
options are for the House to pass the Senate version of the bill without
changes - relying on the Senate's willingness to adopt changes later - and for
Congress to pass as much of the health care plan as possible through the
reconciliation process, which requires fewer votes in the Senate. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that she does not have the votes to pass the
Senate version, and reconciliation is limited by Senate procedural rules to
strictly budgetary matters. A third option is for Congress to rewrite the
bill to include only those items on which there is greater, even bipartisan,
consensus. The latest indications are that the Democrats will take
several weeks to determine which approach to pursue before re-engaging on
health care reform. They have not, however, abandoned the issue.
The
uncertain future path of health care reform leaves up in the air the long-term
care related provisions of the legislation, including the proposed Medicare
cuts. AHCA lobbyists tell us that despite the future path of health care
reform, the focus on lowering the federal deficit means that Medicare cuts are
likely to be a part of President Obama's budget, which will be announced
shortly after the State of the State address next week. The health care
reform legislation also includes an extension of the therapy cap exception
process, and we are told that there is agreement in Congress that this should
be done, even if it must be attached to a different piece of legislation..
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