Key Senate vote on US healthcare
A member of the Health Access protest group holds a placard as part of their campaign against what they say is the poor state of US Healthcare in Los Angeles
Healthcare and reform: Strong opinions in US
President Barack Obama’s attempt to overhaul the US healthcare system is set to enter a new phase with a key Senate panel due to vote on the issue.
The Senate Finance Committee is expected to pass its reform bill.
But all eyes will be on how not only the panel’s Republicans but Democrats vote, as the reform plans have divided opinion over their cost and scope.
Republican Olympia Snowe has said she will break with her party and back the bill, a major gain for the Democrats.
With her vote, the moderate senator from Maine will become the first Republican in Congress to back the Democrats’ proposed healthcare reform legislation.
Announcing her decision on Tuesday, she said: “When history calls, history calls.
However, Senator Snowe said it did not necessarily mean she would support later versions of a bill.
“There are many, many miles to go in this legislative journey,” she said. “My vote today is my vote today. It doesn’t forecast what it will be tomorrow.”
The committee’s vote could give an indication of how the legislation will fare when it reaches the full Senate.
Reforming the US healthcare system is President Obama’s top domestic priority.
He argues that all Americans are entitled to insurance coverage, that rising costs must be tackled and that private insurers must not be able to deny coverage or end it when someone becomes seriously ill.
US HEALTHCARE
No universal coverage
Private health insurance available through employer, government or private schemes
US spends some 16.2% of GDP on healthcare, nearly twice average of other OECD countries
US Census Bureau estimates some 46m people do not have health insurance – includes 9.2 million non-citizens and 18 million people who earn over $50,000 a year
Medicaid: federal-state programme for low income groups
Medicare: for people 65 years old and above and some younger disabled pe
On paper, his administration should face few problems, says the BBC’s Kevin Connolly in Montana.
Mr Obama has a strong presidential mandate and his Democratic Party has majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
But, our correspondent says, Democrats come from a very wide political spectrum, including fiscal conservatives who are concerned about any reforms that could increase government spending and borrowing.
That is why the vote in the Senate Finance Committee, a key but far from final step, will be closely watched.
The committee’s bill, which was drafted after weeks of at times bitterly bipartisan debate, sets out a 10-year $829bn (£525bn) plan to cut health costs and provide affordable health insurance to most Americans.
It is expected to pass, as the Democrats have a majority of 13 to 10. The key issue is whether any Democrats vote against. The support of Senator Snowe, seen as a pivotal figure, is a significant boost for the Democrats.
‘Public option’
After Tuesday’s vote, the finance committee’s bill must be combined with a bill drafted by the Senate Health Committee before going to the full Senate for a vote.
It is not guaranteed to pass, as it needs all the Democrats, two independents and one Republican to vote in favour.
If it does pass the Senate, it will be combined with the House of Representatives’ version and go back before both houses for final approval.
It is still a long congressional slog but correspondents note that Mr Obama’s push for healthcare reform has gone further than attempts in the 1990s by President Bill Clinton, which never got beyond all the committees.
All of the different versions of the bill produced by House of Representatives and Senate committees are broadly similar in the scope of their reforms:
* toughen regulations on health insurers
* mandate all Americans to get insurance
* offer subsidies to the less well-off and set up health insurance exchanges for people without employer-sponsored coverage, to help them choose between different options.
Lawmakers are divided, however, over whether there should be a new government-run insurance scheme – the so-called “public option”.
The finance committee’s proposed bill is the only one not to include a public option, an element advocated by Mr Obama and some Democrats as the means of creating competition between insurers.
Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that the finance committee’s bill would result in reducing the federal deficit by $81bn and mean some 94% of eligible Americans would have insurance coverage.
However, Republicans say the final draft which will be voted on is likely to be very different and more expensive than this version. They say the proposed reforms are too costly and represent too much government intrusion into healthcare.
At the weekend, the private insurance industry issued a study that said the plans could mean policies end up costing people hundreds, if not thousands, more dollars.
