Although the U.S. Senate approved legislation on health insurance reform, it does not indicate the bill will ultimately be signed.

“This was a matter of some people not wanting the bill to move forward, so (the Senate) took a vote,” said Maxine Berman, Griffin Endowed Chair and Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s director of special projects.

The bill, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was approved Nov. 21 in a 60-39 decision. Reid needed exactly 60 votes to prevent a Republican filibuster, and he needs 68 votes for the legislation to be approved.

Debate on the bill is expected to commence after the Thanksgiving holiday and is anticipated to go on for weeks since there is no Republican support for the bill as it is written.

“I expect we’ll be working right through Christmas to try to get it done,” said U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., in a previous Central Michigan Life interview.
“Then it would have to go to the House of Representatives, with a conference between the two Houses. And if we’re able to get it passed in the Senate to begin with, then that conference will give us a final product.”

A changing bill

Republicans argue Reid’s bill, expected to extend health care benefits to an estimated 31 million uninsured Americans at a cost of $848 billion over 10 years, calls for higher premiums, higher taxes and massive cuts to Medicare.

They also complain the bill did not sufficiently restrict the use of federal money for insurance covering abortions.

“Harry Reid is not stupid,” Berman said. “He created a bill knowing there were going to be some changes. Whenever you have a big controversial bill like this, you know there’s going to be changes if it means getting passage of the bill.”

Levin said the bill will be changed in many ways, and that was the intent of the debate when it began.

“It’s subject to amendment,” he said. “Nobody expects that it will be passed in the exact same form it was introduced.”

Berman said if the Democrats compromise, then the Republicans need to vote for the bill, though it is doubtful whether they will ultimately comply.

“The fact is, there are a number of people who aren’t going to vote for a bill under any circumstance even if you gave them everything they wanted,” she said.

Democrats: Impose taxes, reduce spending

In its current form, the Senate bill would expand Medicaid and subsequently expand health benefits broadly, provide subsidies to help qualified citizens buy either private insurance or coverage under a new government-run plan and it would require that nearly all Americans acquire insurance or pay fees for failing to do so.

The Democrats plan to pay for the legislation by reducing government spending and imposing new taxes and fees.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported such legislation would reduce the future federal budget deficits by $130 billion through the year 2019 and ultimately pay for itself.

There are significant differences in the Senate bill compared to the House bill that passed earlier this month by a 220-215 vote margin. The two chambers differ on 16 issues, particularly on a public option, abortion, expanding Medicaid, immigration and how to actually pay for the legislation.

Levin said the Senate bill does not contain the Stupak Amendment, although there is a different version that prohibits the use of public funding for abortions. He said it is difficult to predict the outcome.

“Whatever the Senate finally produces, assuming they can produce something, it has to be reconciled with what the House has just passed,” said Bill Ballenger, former Griffin Endowed Chair and editor of Inside Michigan Politics.

In the event that the bills is approved in the House and Senate differ, then a conference committee must form and settle the differences before any piece of legislation can be signed into law by President Barack Obama.

E-mail the author: Carisa Seltz