Snowe, Lincoln: Start healthcare reform with small businesses

A duo of key centrist senators urged their colleagues today to set down comprehensive healthcare reform temporarily and instead start with reforms for small businesses.

Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said the Senate could "breathe bipartisan life" into the healthcare debate if they passed the Small Business Health Options (SHOP) Act.

The bill, which was included in the comprehensive Senate Finance Committee legislation, would give tax credits to small businesses to buy coverage, establish an exchange for small businesses to compare plans, and allow national plans to be sold across state lines.

"Our SHOP legislation is an essential building block that we believe can serve as the foundation of health care reform moving forward," Snowe and Lincoln said in a joint statement.

The statement comes as both parties are preparing for a healthcare summit at the White House tomorrow.  If the summit doesn't provide any meaningful bipartisan breakthroughs, Democrats will likely use a tactic called "reconciliation" to pass reform  with 51 votes in the Senate.

Should Democrats take that rout, they wouldn't need the votes of Snowe or Lincoln.

Nevertheless, the duo said Congress shouldn't give up on bipartisanship.

"We remain convinced that convening a bipartisan group of Members who are committed to reform is essential if we are to breathe new life into the broken health care reform process and rebuild confidence that our government is able to set aside partisan bickering and achieve meaningful results for working families facing enormous health care insecurity," they said.

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