Shaheen Does Not Say if She Would Vote for Health Care Bill Without Public Option
REACTION
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Oct. 13, 2009
WASHINGTON— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a strong supporter of the so-called public option alternative in health care legislation, said Tuesday she wasn’t ready to commit to voting for a Senate bill that did not include the option.
The bill the Senate Finance Committee approved earlier in the day does not include a public option provision. The panel approved it, 14-9, after almost five hours of debate. Olympia Snowe of Maine was the lone Republican voting for the bill.
Before the full Senate gets its crack at health care legislation, the Finance Committee version must be merged with one the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has already approved. That bill includes a public option.
Despite the long road ahead—three House bills must be merged into one and then reconciled with the Senate-passed bill—the Finance Committee’s approval of its bill moves health care overhaul closer to reality than it has been for decades.
Snowe, who announced late in the debate that she would support the Democratic health care bill, said, “When history calls, history calls.”
Shaheen, in a phone interview, said of the committee’s action, “I think it’s a positive step forward.” She said she was very pleased that insurance reform is included in the bill and that insurance companies would not be able to discriminate based on gender or health status.
Shaheen said she expected amendments addressing the public option would be offered when the merged legislation comes to the Senate floor, but she would not say how she would vote if the final bill didn’t include the option.
Stressing the importance of increasing competition in the health insurance market, Shaheen said she would wait to see what is included in the final bill. She said she would look at what options are offered and “support what I think would do that the best.”
Sen. Judd Gregg didn’t respond to a request to comment on the vote, but he said in an earlier interview that he expected a public option would somehow make its appearance in the final legislation.
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., will be working with
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and others to blend the bill with the version approved by the Health Committee, which Gregg serves on.
Baucus’ bill would set limits on co-payments and deductibles and offer federal subsidies to help lower-income families purchase coverage. In addition, insurance companies have to take all comers, and people could buy insurance at exchanges, the new marketplaces for insurance.
Medicaid for low-income people would be expanded, and employers would have to pay a penalty for each employee who sought government-subsidized insurance. The bill is paid for by cuts in reimbursements to Medicare providers and by new taxes on insurance companies and others.
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