Senate committee passes health care overhaul
WASHINGTON -- A Senate health committee advanced a $600 billion overhaul of the nation's health care system Wednesday, pushing President Obama's top domestic priority past its farthest legislative milestone to date.
But the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill, which was approved on a 13-10, party line vote, could change significantly before Congress acts on health care. Lawmakers — who want to conduct floor votes on the bill before they recess in August — are working on two other versions of the legislation.
The Senate's health committee was the first of five committees in Congress considering health care to pass a version of the legislation.
"This time we've produced legislation that by and large I think the American people want," said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who has overseen the health committee as its chairman, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is being treated for brain cancer.
The legislation drew accolades from President Obama, who discussed health care at a Rose Garden ceremony honoring the American Nurses Association. The bill "will finally lower health care costs, provide better care for patients, and ensure fair treatment of consumers by the insurance agency," Obama said.
He said the current health care system "is threatening the financial stability of our families, of businesses, and of government itself. It's unsustainable and it has to change."
The bill includes subsidies for low income families and individuals to help them purchase health insurance. The government would provide financial assistance with premiums for individuals and families making up to four times the federal poverty level, or about $88,000 for a family of four.
The bill also calls for a government-run, public insurance program that Dodd and other Democrats have said will compete with private insurers to drive costs down.
But Republicans on the committee warned that the health committee's version of the bill would add to the national deficit and force millions of Americans out of the insurance they have now.
"It may do things that we will never be able to correct," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the highest-ranking Republican on the health committee.
The committee's vote comes a day after Democrats in the House unveiled a $1.5 trillion plan; House lawmakers were expected to begin committee work on that bill today. The House legislation also includes $544 billion in increased income taxes over 10 years on wealthy Americans.
Paying for a health care overhaul continues to be the most challenging issue facing Congress. The Senate Finance Committee, led by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has been working behind the scenes to develop a bill that could win bipartisan support. On Tuesday, Baucus could not say when that work will be done. "We're ready when we're ready," he said.
Kennedy, who has missed most of the health committee meetings this year because of his cancer treatment, released a statement congratulating Dodd and other committee members on finishing their work.
"We have done the hard work that the American people sent us here to do," Kennedy said. "It is a cause that knows no boundary of party, region, or philosophy. It is a cause that can and should unite us all as Americans."
Contributing: Associated Press