Sen. Brown: Health Care Bill Needs More Subsidies

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Even if Democrats — as expected — get the 60 votes they need to advance the Senate health care bill tomorrow, the legislation is in for a long amendment process, with pressure from both the right and the left. On ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” today, Sen. Sherrod Brown, a supporter of the bill, said he thinks the bill needs to do more to help lower-income Americans buy health insurance. “I want to do the calculations again to make sure the subsidies are high enough,” said Brown, D-Ohio. “I’d like to see them higher. I think there’s a way of doing that and paying for it.” A mandate for people to purchase health insurance only works in practice if everyone’s able to afford it, he said. “Almost all experts say you can’t do health care reform without everybody getting health insurance. So we’ve got to find a way to do it,” he said. Brown said he’s also looking to take out the Senate bill’s new tax on high-end health insurance plans, a concept that is fiercely opposed by leading labor unions. “The House funded pretty much that whole block of money coming from a surtax on people making a half million, a million and up a year,” he said. “So I would prefer that by far to overtaxing sort of middle-class, sort of the upper end of middle-class health care plans. That’s the way we ought to do it. But let’s see what happens on the Senate floor.” Watch the full interview with Sen. Brown, including his take on the heat surrounding Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, HERE. “I think Secretary Geithner’s listening better than he might have been earlier in the year and, I’m hopeful there,” Brown said. We also chatted with Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times and Politics Daily on a busy day for news out of Illinois — with Oprah Winfrey announcing an end date for her show, the resolution of the Ethics Committee investigation of Sen. Roland Burris, plus Gov. Pat Quinn’s apparent nodding off during a gubernatorial debate. Watch part two of today’s “Top Line,” with Lynn Sweet, HERE. Or, as always, you can download today’s edition for free at iTunes.