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Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., right, followed by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., leave a health care reform news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, gestures during a health care reform news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. From left are, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., McConnell, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Ariz. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, shows copy of the Democratic health care reform bill during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. From left are, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., McConnell, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Ariz., Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., center, accompanied by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., left, and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., speaks during a health care reform news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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By DAVID ESPO, The Associated Press Updated 9:41 AM Sunday, November 22, 2009

WASHINGTON — A bruising debate on health care awaits the Senate after Thanksgiving now that the historic legislation has cleared a key hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama.

The bill would extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny or dilute benefits and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.

In the final minutes of a daylong session, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused Republicans of trying to stifle a historic debate the nation needed.

The Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said the vote was anything but procedural — casting it as a referendum on the bill itself, which he said would raise taxes, cut Medicare and create a "massive and unsustainable debt."

Two final Democratic holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, announced they would join in clearing the way for a full debate.

"It is clear to me that doing nothing is not an option," said Landrieu, who won $100 million in the legislation to help her state pay the costs of health care for the poor.

Landrieu and Lincoln, who faces a tough re-election next year, both stressed they were not committing in advance to vote for the legislation that ultimately emerges from next month's debate.

Of particular contentiousness to moderates is a provision for the government to sell insurance in competition with private companies, subject to state approval — a part of Reid's bill expected to come under significant pressure as the debate unfolds.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president was gratified by the vote, which he says "brings us one step closer to ending insurance company abuses, reining in spiraling health care costs, providing stability and security to those with health insurance, and extending quality health coverage to those who lack it."

The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide subsidies to those who couldn't afford it. Large companies could incur costs if they did not provide coverage to their workforce. The insurance industry would come under significant new regulation under the bill, which would first ease and then ban the practice of denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.

Congressional budget analysts put the legislation's cost at $979 billion over a decade and said it would reduce deficits over the same period while extending coverage to 94 percent of the eligible population.

___

November 22, 2009 02:36 PM EST

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Scoobydo is full of do do just like the rest of the socialist democommies. Health care is not a right. No one has the right to the goods and services of another without paying for it. I suggest scoobydo should work and provide his services to me for free. Is that fair?

Richard Gestrich
6:18 PM, 11/22/2009

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Joe Lieberman is against National Health Care but is FOR receiving soft money from insurance companies while retaining his TAX-PAYER FUNDED health insurance.A lot of people don't realze that Joe Lieberman was also present in the garden of Eden [Hint--he wasn't Adam or Eve]

bob
3:56 PM, 11/22/2009

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What's the difference between Landrieu and a $20 Whore?

Cajun
2:46 PM, 11/22/2009

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..the only one spouting party line krap is you scoobydoo. The rest of us are supporting the have nots and barely hanging on or not hanging on at all. Knock of the workers of the world unite crap and walk in our shoes a while. The middle class is being destroyed by naive liberals like you. Believe me it isn't going to last much longer.

right
12:26 PM, 11/22/2009

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Joe never worked a day in his life but gets welfare healthcare.Bob worked 45 years,gets laid-off and has COBRA.The person deciding what's best for both guys "works" in government and has conveniently excused himself from part of the plan.Sound familiar ? That's right----they did the same thing with SSI.I'm all for national health-care,as long as EVERYONE is in,NO EXCLUSIONS !!!

bob
12:08 PM, 11/22/2009

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