Barack Obama

As Leaders Try To Pass Health Care Reform By Year's End, The Nearest Obstacles Are In Their Own Party

Brian Beutler | November 5, 2009, 2:23PM

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

With less than two months to go until Congress breaks for the holidays, the White House and Senate leaders are huddling to figure out how to pass a bill before the end of the year. As part of their push, both camps are meeting with conservative Democrats--most notably Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)--whose unanimous support is absolutely required simply to bring the bill to the floor. But leading Democrats are unlikely to make any progress until these swing-vote senators see the bill Majority Leader Harry Reid put together, along with a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. They say that's necessary before they make any decisions on even the earliest procedural votes, and there's no clear indication as to when the CBO will weigh in.

Last night, Reid met with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and others to discuss, among other things, how far they've come in convincing caucus conservatives to support the bill's public option. "That's one of many subjects, that wasn't the main subject," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Along the same lines, Reid spokesman Jim Manley suggests that this is part and parcel of an effort to move legislation sooner rather than later. They met, he said, to "discuss ways to try and get a bill done by the end of the year."

But with conservative Democrats cold to the public option, and withholding their commitments to allow the bill to be debated on the floor, the White House and Democratic leaders have a lot of work ahead of them and they'll likely have to work in tandem. On that score, this week, Lincoln--perhaps the most electorally vulnerable of all moderate Democrats--met with both Reid and President Obama to discuss the Senate bill.

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Health Care

The High Drama Behind Reid's Public Option Decision

Brian Beutler | October 28, 2009, 6:40PM

Today, everyone's officially on the same page. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and his leadership team, and the White House all stand behind the Senate health care bill, which, as we learned this week, includes a public option. But the days leading up to Reid's big Monday announcement were perhaps more trying for leading Democrats than has been publicly acknowledged, or than today's picture of calm would lead you to believe.

Much of the hoopla surrounding Reid's decision centers around a tense Thursday night meeting between President Obama and Senate health care principals--including Reid and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)--at the White House. But according to sources briefed on White House-Senate health care negotiations, things began boiling over earlier in the week, when a key question was, Who's going to take the blame when the public option doesn't make it in to the base health care bill?

According to a source briefed on White House-Senate health care negotiations, the public option's saving grace was its political popularity with the Democratic base. The source described the back and forth between Senate health care principals and the White House as a "sort of stare down where the two sides were saying, 'you be the face of pulling it out.' Reid wants Obama to do it to give cover to his caucus, Obama wants Reid to do it so he's not the bad guy on the public option, and can still walk away with a win with reform, with bipartisanship, and with a card for everybody running for re-election."

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Chuck Schumer

Key Democratic Senators Correct Lieberman On The Public Option

Brian Beutler | October 28, 2009, 3:06PM

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Key public option supporters in the Senate Democratic Caucus pushed back today on different objections raised by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to the idea of including a public option in health care reform.

"I think one of the problems the leader is working through...is that there have been a number of theories about what a public option is that have been kicked around," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in response to a question from TPMDC. "On the Senate side, in the [HELP] Committee, we chose to...make sure that these public options were self sustaining."

Lieberman has suggested both that the public option would be a drain on taxpayers, and that it would drive up private insurance premiums, in contrast to the findings of most experts.

"I think there's a bit of a function of trying to make sure that everybody's clear exactly what it is that we're proposing," Whitehouse said. "I think once the actual text of the bill is out and it's clear that the HELP language is what was adopted. I think we'll be successfully able to make the case to Senator Lieberman that there is not a subsidy here and it is not an entitlement."

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) added his own two cents as well.

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Health Care

Schumer: We Prevailed On White House That Public Option Was The Way To Go

Brian Beutler | October 26, 2009, 7:41PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

So how did we go from a White House at loggerheads with the Senate leadership last Thursday night over a public option, to a deal today that's exactly what the leadership wanted?

This evening I spoke with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was in that infamous Thursday night meeting with President Obama and other Senate leaders--and who has been one of the most persistent advocates of a public option on Capitol Hill. As Schumer explains it, the disagreement between the White House and Senate wasn't substantive so much as it was tactical: The White House had its doubts that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could really get 60 votes for a public option with an opt out for states.

"The President listened very carefully," Schumer said in an interview moments ago. "He wanted to make sure that the strategy upon which we were embarking had the ability to carry through."

Schumer has been at the center of the fight over the public option from the earliest days of the health care debate--always there to pull it back from the brink when it at times seemed on the verge of collapse. This situation was no different. After the Thursday meeting, four sources in different Democratic offices told me that the White House had suggested they believed a strategy of pursuing Sen. Olympia Snowe's preferred compromise--a triggered public option--might be an easier path to 60 votes. In the end, though, Schumer and the rest of leadership seem to have prevailed upon President Obama that they've picked the right strategy.

"I think substantively the White House probably preferred a stronger public option than a trigger," Schumer said. "We talked about this for a while in leadership and the White House wanted to hear our thoughts--and when they heard them they thought that this was the right strategy to get our caucus together."

Today, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the President stands behind Reid as he builds support for the public plan.

"A lot of people around here have faith in Harry Reid's abilty to count votes," Schumer told me.

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Chuck Schumer

Schumer: Opt-Out Is 'The Best Compromise' That Can Potentially Get 60 Votes

Eric Kleefeld | October 26, 2009, 3:31PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has released this statement, on Harry Reid's announcement of a public option proposal that includes an opt-out mechanism for states:

"Leader Reid has always been a strong supporter of a public option that could help keep the insurers honest, and today he showed just how deep his commitment is. The public option has new life because as Americans have learned more about it, they have come to see it is the best way to reduce costs and increase competition in the health insurance industry. This form of public option is not exactly what either liberals or moderates would want. But a public plan based on a level playing field, with an opt-out for states, is the best compromise that has the potential of getting 60 votes in the Senate."

Jay Rockefeller

Rockefeller: White House Approach To Public Option 'Difficult To Fathom' Sometimes

Brian Beutler | October 21, 2009, 3:54PM

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)

I just spoke with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who had a bit of a fractured take on the current state of the public option. He took issue with the President Obama's aloof approach to the public option, and at the same time echoed one of the administration's most controversial lines.

"They're a little difficult to fathom sometimes, to keep up with what they're doing," Rockefeller said. "They're in these meetings, all of these meetings, that I don't get to go to so I can't tell you exactly what they're saying."

But he also said something that seems a bit at odds with his consistent, emphatic support for the measure, which he has described as a necessary element of reform. "You know, the public option--which I think in the end is going to prevail--is not actually the biggest thing in the entire bill," Rockefeller told me. "I hate to hear myself say that, but it's true."

Earlier today, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)--another ardent public option enthusiast--said much the same thing after an event heralding a plan to strip the health insurance industry of its anti-trust exemption.

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Health Care

Key Senators, White House Officials, To Discuss Public Option Tonight

Brian Beutler | October 21, 2009, 12:20PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Silence is golden. That's Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's mantra as he heads the delicate process of crafting a single Senate health care bill from two separate packages. But so far, the House's swift and decisive action on the public option seems to have had little impact on the hiss position.

Reid is adamant that the insurance industry should lose a decades-old anti-trust exemption that allows companies to divvy up markets and agree not to compete against one another. But he and other senators are still mum about whether they'll systematically end the non-competitive nature of health insurance markets by including a public option in the Senate's health care bill.

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Health Care

Conrad Settles Into Familiar Role: 'Hard To See How A Public Option Gets The Votes'

Brian Beutler | October 15, 2009, 1:44PM

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Before members of the Senate Finance Committee were forced to go on the record about the public option, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) refused to state a personal opinion on the question calling it "moot," and focusing all of his efforts on advancing a system of private, non-profit co-operatives instead.

Since then, though, Conrad's message has changed slightly, though he still says a public option will be a hard sell in the Senate. In response to a question from TPMDC, Conrad said it's "hard to see" where the public option gets the votes.

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Health Care

Reid Dismisses Schumer's Insistence That Public Option Is In His Hands

Brian Beutler | October 14, 2009, 2:54PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Speaking to reporters just outside the Senate chamber this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scoffed at the suggestion--articulated last night by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)--that the public option is simply in his hands.

"He would rather say anything so it wasn't up to him," Reid said, before departing for a meeting with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chris Dodd (D-CT). The four will hold the first meeting about how to shape a health care bill that will soon be introduced on the Senate floor.

Other senators have been significantly less vocal than Schumer (at least in public) with respect to what steps Reid should take to include the public option. I caught up with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and asked him whether he agreed with Schumer. He said, "I'm definitely for the public option, I want it included in the final bill. I'm gonna leave it up to the Majority Leader's judgment and the vote of the Senate as to when that's going to take place."

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) was less forthcoming. "I never second guess the leadership on what kind of procedural moves they make," he said. "I just vote as I choose. I don't comment on their decisions."

Health Care

Key Senators, Rahm, To Hold Inaugural Meeting On Senate Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | October 14, 2009, 10:13AM

Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

At 2:30 this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will host Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the first of several meetings presaging the merger of two major health care bills. The foursome is expected to discuss key issues at the heart of the reform process--affordability, Medicare, the public option, revenues--but no decisions are expected today.

The meeting kicks off a process that may be the most important of the entire health care debate. Reid, in consultation with Senate health care leaders and White House officials will crib from the Senate HELP Committee's health care bill, and the more conservative Senate Finance Committee health care bill, which was voted favorably out of committee after multiple delays yesterday.

Reid and the White House will be the focus of a great deal of attention in the coming days from the liberal base, which is adamant that health care reform include a public option, and that party leaders prevent rank and file senators from joining Republicans in a filibuster of the final bill. If Reid decides that the legislation he brings to the floor will include a public option it would be a game changer--and public option supporters within his own party aren't being shy about their preference.

Additional reporting by Christina Bellantoni

Health Care

Flawed Insurance Industry Report Is Rallying Cry For Obama Grassroots Group

Brian Beutler | October 14, 2009, 9:12AM

President Barack Obama speaks at a Human Rights Campaign event.

One of the key dynamics at yesterday's historic Senate Finance Committee hearing was the schism between Democrats and Republicans on the findings of a health insurance industry-designed analysis of the Baucus Bill. While Republicans were cautiously willing to accept the report, Democrats used it to highlight the need for true reform. And now, President Obama's grassroots political organization is attempting some similar jujitsu.

In a letter to members, Organizing for America describes the industry report as "a blatant scare tactic designed to frighten voters and bully Congress...Send a message urging Congress to stand with voters, not D.C. lobbyists, and pass real reform."

You can read the entire letter below the fold. Yesterday, Democratic senators were almost giddy that the unpopular industry had decided to take them on, predicting that the move would actually make reform more likely to pass. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) even predicted that the report had even improved the chances that the final bill will include a public option.

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Health Care

Key Senators React To Passage Of The Finance Committee Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | October 13, 2009, 3:02PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

In the wake of the successful vote on the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill, key senators weighed in on the most hot button issues at the heart of the reform fight: the public option and budget reconciliation. Both Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Chuck Schumer said during the hearing that the final package must include a public option.

But after the vote, in a response to a question from TPMDC, Schumer said, "I'm not drawing any lines in the sand." But, he added in response to a separate question, that the recent AHIP/PwC analysis make the ultimate inclusion of the public option "more likely."

On the separate issue of whether this means Democrats can avoid turning to the controversial budget reconciliation process, Finance chairman Max Baucus told reporters that he's "very confident" that the bipartisan vote today will be able to pass health care reform through the regular order.

We'll bring you more responses as they flow in.

Health Care

A New Public Option Compromise Shows Promise--But Let's Not Get Ahead Of Ourselves

Brian Beutler | October 8, 2009, 6:29PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

The story of the day on the health care beat belongs to Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Carper (D-DE). Their new proposal to devise a national public option in such a way that states could choose not to participate quickly overtook yesterday's news from the CBO that the Senate Finance Committee bill would save billions of dollars. But is it the long-sought solution to the public option conundrum?

The short answer is: it's way too early to tell.

"The amount of ink and media attention being spilled on this issue bears little relationship to where it is in the process," said one leadership aide.

Conversations with a number of Senate aides from across the Democratic spectrum all touched on the same theme: The idea may be decent on the merits, and appealing to some key conservative Democrats. But all 60? Or 59 plus Olympia Snowe? That's hard to answer when the concept hasn't even been fully fleshed out. And yet, it's almost certain that, as an amendment to the bill that ultimately reaches the Senate floor, it would need 60 one way or another.

Then there are House liberals, who remain extremely focused on a Medicare-like public option, available everywhere. They're not saying much about this idea just yet, but from initial conversations with House aides, it's unlikely that they're going to drop their campaign for a robust public option and get on the "opt-out" bandwagon. Whether they would ultimately settle for such a compromise if it came out of a conference committee is a question whose answer enters the realm of multiple levels of speculation. There's no denying that the initial reception by both liberal and conservative Democrats has been generally positive. But as the quote above indicates, we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

Health Care

Conservative And Liberal Democrats Warm To Public Option Compromise

Brian Beutler | October 8, 2009, 3:25PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Both conservative and liberal Democrats seem to be open to a new public option proposal floated by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Carper (D-DE) to allow states not to participate in the plan if they decide they don't want to.

A Baucus aide tells me "Senator Baucus will look closely at this proposal, as well as other proposals, and could consider supporting them as part of an overall package as long as it achieved his health care reform goals while getting 60 votes."

Along the same lines, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) told Politico that he likes the idea of leaving the decision up to the states.

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Chuck Schumer

Schumer: Opt-Out Public Option Gaining Steam

Brian Beutler | October 8, 2009, 10:58AM

We're chasing the ball on a new idea (is it a trial balloon? is it the magic answer?) to pass a health care bill with a public option that states--likely small, and conservative states--could choose not to participate in.

As I reported last night, the idea comes from Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), and is being pushed by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)--a man with no shortage of clout on the Hill. Appearing on MSNBC a few moments ago, Schumer said the idea's gaining traction.

"That's one of the things being very seriously considered," Schumer said. "I'm not going to -- we have a range of things we're considering. Senator Carper and I met for quite a while last night and made progress and talked to a large number of members last night, yesterday. And I am optimistic that there will be some kind of public option in the bill the president signs. I'm very optimistic."

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Chuck Schumer

Senators Discussing Public Option Opt-Out As Potential Compromise

Brian Beutler | October 7, 2009, 7:03PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Over at the Huffington Post, Sam Stein reports on an interesting, potential health care compromise that would allow states to opt out of what would otherwise be a national public option.

TPMDC has learned that the idea was reportedly conceived by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), who also proposed a separate compromise that would allow states to opt in to a public option. A Carper aide confirms that he's taking a close look at the idea.

Interestingly, the nascent proposal also appears to have the backing of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who's been shopping it around to colleagues, according to one Senate source.

Asked for comment, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "Sen. Reid is open to any proposal that lowers cost and increases competition."

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David Paterson

Schumer And Gillibrand Dodge Questions On Paterson Endorsement

Rachel Slajda | October 7, 2009, 11:50AM

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

At an event endorsing New York City mayoral candidate Bill Thompson on Monday, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand would not say whether they'll endorse Gov. David Paterson in next year's gubernatorial election.

Asked about an endorsement, Schumer said: "You know, these are very, very difficult times for a governor, any governor, giving the economy and everything else. I'm doing everything I can to help David Paterson work together and maximize New York's help from Washington."

"As for elections, let's stick to this one today. One election today," he added, according to the Daily News.

As for Gillibrand, she said, "Well, I support the governor and, you know, he said he's going to run and we are all focused right now on this election cycle."

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Health Care

Snowe May Withhold Trigger Amendment Until Full Senate Debates Health Care

Brian Beutler | September 30, 2009, 5:10PM

One of the most anticipated amendments to the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill was introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). If adopted, it would create triggered public options at the state level if private insurance companies didn't make insurance affordable and available everywhere. But yesterday, when the Committee considered a separate pair of public option amendments, Snowe's proposal wasn't on the agenda.

Senate sources suggest Snowe may withhold the amendment until health care legislation hits the floor next month. And a Snowe spokesperson confirms that, though the situation is very fluid right now, that is a possibility.

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Health Care

Schumer Public Option Amendment Fails in Finance Committee

Brian Beutler | September 29, 2009, 3:42PM

The Senate Finance Committee can't even endorse a modest public option like Chuck Schumer's. Citing his belief that a public option can't pass on the Senate floor "at this time," Finance chairman Max Baucus joined two Democrats and all Republicans in voting down the amendment, which failed 10 to 13.

Joining Baucus on the Democrats' side of the dais were Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and, by proxy, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) who wasn't present for the vote.

There will be no public option in the Finance Committee's health care bill.

Health Care

Senate Finance Commitee Debates Schumer's "Level Playing Field" Public Option

Brian Beutler | September 29, 2009, 3:00PM

Introducing his public option amendment, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) cited many of the differences between his proposal and the more robust public option offered unsuccessfully by Jay Rockefeller: No providers would be forced to take public option insurance, and the government would not be allowed to set prices. These differences are crucial, and reformers don't like them, but they do mean less government involvement and undermine the criticism of a number of conservative Senate Democrats. So let's see how they vote.

3:06 p.m.: Bill Nelson, who voted against the Rockefeller public option, says "I will vote for the Schumer amendment." Well, that clears that up.

3:16 p.m.: Kent Conrad says the fact that the Schumer amendment is an improvement over Rockefeller's because it's not tied to Medicare. But he says he worries that the House's bill will be tied to Medicare, and now he's saying he doesn't like that it's government run. He also continues to misconstrue the French health care system.

3:20 p.m.: Conrad didn't ultimately say whether he'd vote yes or no--he seems like a no, he's probably a no, but let's keep an eye out. He opposed the Rockefeller amendment on the grounds that it was tied to Medicare, but Schumer's plan is specifically not designed that way. That dramatically undercuts his argument. What will he do?

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Health Care

Rockefeller Says His Public Option Would Save $50 Billion Over 10 Years

Brian Beutler | September 29, 2009, 10:25AM

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has introduced his public option amendment before the Senate Finance Committee. In making the pitch to the panel's skeptics, he's noted that it will save the federal government about $50 billion over 10 years, and would be, as its name implies optional--i.e. it's not a "government takeover" of health care.

Late update: To the chagrin of chairman Max Baucus, Rockefeller is lambasting the insurance industry, and citing a number of ways other health care reform bills do a better job at reining in their excesses. He cited insurance industry whistleblower Wendell Potter, who said that, without a public option, health care reform legislation might as well be named the "Insurance Industry Profit Protection Act."

The House bill, Rockefeller noted, would place strict limits on the so-called medical-loss ratio (i.e. percentage of each premium dollar that can go to profits, administrative costs, and other non-health care related activities.)

Late, late update: It's worth mentioning that you can follow the hearing at this link.

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Health Care

Today's the Day: Public Option Votes in the Senate Finance Committee

Brian Beutler | September 29, 2009, 9:20AM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)

As I laid out moments after the proposed amendments to the Baucus bill were announced, the public option will have its day on the Senate Finance Committee.

That day is today. The 23-member panel will consider amendments sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that, if adopted, would add a public option into the panel's health care reform bill.

Two things to keep in mind if you're watching the hearing or reading news accounts about the developments: the two proposals are very different, and neither is expected to pass. The Rockefeller amendment is a version of what we've come to know as the "robust" public option. It would, for a time, be tied to Medicare, and, thereafter, be able to use the government's considerable leverage to bargain down payment rates with providers.

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Health Care

Reid Supports a Public Option, But Will He Include One in the Senate Health Care Bill?

Brian Beutler | September 28, 2009, 1:06PM

Two telling indicators suggest that, despite a true 60 vote majority, the public option may nonetheless face an uphill climb in the Senate. On Friday, during a tele-townhall, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told an audience of constituents that he thinks a "triggered" public option is a "pretty doggone good idea"--not as good as a robust public option, but better than the private co-op proposal that for a time was regarded as a likely compromise between Democrats, who support a public option, and Republicans, who do not support health care reform.

Today, citing anonymous Democratic sources, the New York Times reports that Reid will likely not include a public option in a final legislative proposal when he merges the Finance and HELP committee bills.

Officially, Reid says it's too early to have decided what will and will not be included in the package he introduces on the Senate floor--the public option will get more than one vote in the Finance Committee this week, and only if it fails (as is expected) will Reid have to decide whether to incorporate it from the HELP bill, or to drop it.

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Public Option

Baucus: We Won't Discuss Public Option Until Tuesday

Rachel Slajda | September 25, 2009, 11:21AM

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT)

Although they were originally scheduled to do so today, Senate Finance Committee members won't discuss public option amendments until Tuesday.

"We don't have time today to bring that up," Chairman Max Baucus said, according to the Washington Independent.

Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are pushing for a public option in the Finance bill. On a conference call last night, Schumer said today would be "the opening day in our big fight."

The committee is adjourning early today and won't meet Monday due to Yom Kippur.

Public Option

Schumer And Rockefeller: We Will Get Public Option

Ben Frumin | September 24, 2009, 7:24PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)

I just got off a conference call with Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). They are confident -- very confident -- that health care reform will include a public option.

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Health Care

Three Public Option Amendments to Baucus Bill Put Conservative Democrats on the Spot

Brian Beutler | September 21, 2009, 2:23PM

By my count, Democrats have offered three different amendments that, if approved, would result in the adoption of a public health insurance plan. The first, proposed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) calls for the creation of a fairly robust public option much like the plan originally drafted by the House of Representatives. It would pay providers Medicare rates plus a small bonus for those practitioners who already take Medicare patients.

That will be a telling vote, but more telling will be the votes on the other two public option proposals. The first, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) would create a so-called "level playing field" public option, which wouldn't be permitted to set rates. The second, offered by Schumer and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), would create a very similar public option, this one imported from the Senate HELP committee's bill.

Rockefeller's plan would please reformers and liberals, and substantively makes more sense on a cost control level. But what makes the other two amendments more politically interesting is that they put conservative Democrats--particularly Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)--on the spot. No longer will they be able to simply dismiss the public option by saying it doesn't have the votes to pass the Senate. And they won't be able to honestly oppose these plans on big government grounds.They'll actually have to go on the record one way or another. And a lot of eyes will be on them when they do.

Health Care

Will Senate Finance Dems Undo Damage Done By Grassley, Enzi?

Brian Beutler | September 18, 2009, 9:11AM

After courting Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) for months--making concession after concession and coming up empty, and angering Democrats who were shut out of negotiations--Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus may be preparing to make amends by undoing some of the damage he made in the name of consensus.

A new report out from Roll Call suggests the new goal is a bill that can win each of the panel's Democrats plus, perhaps, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

"I think there's a view on the part of the chairman and on the part of just about everyone who was there to try and come up with a consensus that every Democrat, and perhaps Olympia Snowe, could support," after meeting with committee Democrats. "I would say, just about everyone in the room thought it's doable."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) opposes the bill as it stands from the left, and has said that other Democrats on the panel were infuriated by the length and failure of the process. Snowe, meanwhile, hasn't said one way or another what she'll do. Democrats were initially skeptical that she'd sign on, but a number of signs yesterday suggest that she's leaning toward supporting the bill as it moves out of committee.

If Snowe opposes the bill, Baucus can afford to lose no more than one Democrat. So consensus--or near consensus--within the party will be critical for him.

Health Care

Schumer: Let's Use Reconciliation Wherever We Can

Rachel Slajda | September 9, 2009, 4:08PM

Sen Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in an interview with The American Prospect, said he's "always favored using reconciliation for the good parts" of the health care reform bill.

"We've looked at it and you can't use reconciliation for everything, [but] you can use it for a good number of things," he said. "There's nothing wrong with using it for the places where you can use it and then trying to get the 60 votes on the places where when you can't. You'd be surprised -- the number of places where you can use it is larger than we first thought."

He declined to be more specific.

Schumer also said piece-by-piece reconciliation would strengthen the bill.

"I think that will get you the best bill, the strongest bill and the bill that will have the greatest positive effect on the American people. Ultimately, we'll be judged not by whether we pass the bill, but ultimately we'll be judged by whether it works," he said.

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Chuck Schumer

Schumer Pushes Dem-Only Health Care Bill--But Are His Colleagues Game?

Brian Beutler | August 25, 2009, 11:33AM

Sen Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

As hope wanes that Congress will be able to reach a bipartisan health care reform compromise, key figures have slowly trickled forward to endorse, or at least nod at, the idea that Democrats should pass health care reform on their own, and the man leading the push appears to be Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

But is he having an impact behind the scenes?

The media began focusing on the issue a week ago after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman Jim Manley announced that Democrats were committed to passing a bill "by any legislative means necessary." But two weeks before that, Schumer surprised some colleagues by declaring, on a conference call with reporters, that Democrats "will have contingencies in place" in the event that bipartisan negotiations go nowhere.

He was referring to budget reconciliation legislation, which can not be filibustered, and can in theory be used to pass certain health care reforms.

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Health Care

Schumer To Dems: Attack GOP-ers, Get Ready To Pass Health Care Alone

Rachel Slajda | August 24, 2009, 2:41PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is telling Senate Democrats that they should prepare to pass health care reform alone by portraying Republicans as unwilling to vote for any health care bill, sources tell Greg Sargent.

"He is urging colleagues to emphasize the GOP's role in spreading false myths -- like death panels and illegal immigrants being covered -- and to emphasize GOP statements like [Sen. John] Kyl saying he wants ZERO votes for health care," a senior Senate aide emailed Sargent.

Schumer attacked Kyl on Meet the Press yesterday for saying that almost no bill would get Republican support.

Health Care

Is The White House Ready To Ditch Republicans And Turn to Reconciliation?

Brian Beutler | August 24, 2009, 9:37AM

After fruitlessly seeking a bipartisan compromise on health care reform for months, the White House seems to have finally realized that Republicans have no interest in compromising and that progressives are fed up with making nice. Now, the administration is preparing to go it alone, even if that means passing reform on a straight party-line vote.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and even President Obama himself have all suggested that they don't think the GOP is serious about reaching a bipartisan health care reform compromise--and with key Republicans suggesting that they'll vote against a bill that doesn't also have the support of a majority of their own party, it's only one logical step to the conclusion that the administration has accepted that health care reform will be the latest initiative to move forward along party lines.

Over the weekend an anonymous source told Bloomberg that the White House is "devising a strategy to pass a measure by relying only on the Democratic majority in each house of Congress."

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Health Care

Schumer: Bipartisan Health Care Bill Looking Very Unlikely

Brian Beutler | August 24, 2009, 9:09AM

Sen Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

On Meet the Press yesterday, Sen. Chuck Schumer contradicted his colleague Kent Conrad (D-ND), saying he believes there are 60 Democratic votes to pass a health care bill with a public option. And he confirmed that, with a bipartisan solution seeming unlikely, Democratic party leaders are indeed prepared to use the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill to pass at least some parts of health care reform.

"I believe we could get a public option that could be passed with the 60 Democratic votes," Schumer said. Conrad has repeatedly said the opposite--that the public option doesn't have the votes. But he famously hasn't explained who in the party would support a health reform filibuster over the issue.

Schumer went on to address the possibility that Democrats might circumvent the filibuster altogether. "[W]e are considering alternatives," he said in an appearance with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

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