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Three Dem sens, three healthcare plans |
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By Alexander Bolton
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Posted: 11/21/08 01:57 PM [ET] |
A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is pushing its own proposal in the healthcare debate, potentially rivaling two powerful Democrats who are also working on comprehensive plans.
Last week, Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Finance Committee, and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel, made it known they are working separately on reform legislation.
But Wyden and 14 other senators have sent a letter to President-elect Barack Obama touting the Healthy Americans Act, the comprehensive healthcare reform legislation that Wyden has sponsored with Republican Sen. Bob Bennett (Utah), a close ally of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).
Wyden and Bennett's group includes six Democratic senators, six Republican senators and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.). They all signed the letter to Obama, which calls on the incoming president to include seven principles in his plan for healthcare reform.
Kennedy and Baucus did not sign the letter.
A Baucus aide said the Finance chairman sent a similar letter to Obama on Nov. 6 outlining his principles for reforming healthcare.
"He fully intends to work with these colleagues and with numerous others to achieve bipartisan consensus on a final, comprehensive health reform package next year,” said the aide.
All 15 signatories of Wyden’s letter are co-sponsors of the Healthy Americans Act, which Wyden introduced in January of last year. Neither Kennedy nor Baucus has co-sponsored the bill.
“Over the last two years, we have come together as Democrats and Republicans to co-sponsor the Healthy Americans Act because we believe that for health reform to succeed it must be bipartisan,” the lawmakers wrote. “We also believe that in these tough economic times with soaring budget deficits, it is critical to fix our broken healthcare system without breaking the bank.”
Wyden has met with 86 senators to discuss the legislation and has stressed that it would not place a big strain on the Treasury at a time of soaring budget deficits. In an interview with The Hill, Wyden said a Congressional Budget Office score estimated that his bill would become budget-neutral after two years and “in the third year will begin lowering costs.”
Peter Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, estimated that Wyden’s plan would become “more than self-financing” after a few years.
Wyden, a member of the Finance panel, emphasized that he plans to work closely with Baucus and Kennedy, rather than compete with them.
“My plan is to work very closely with Chairman Baucus and Chairman Kennedy and the incoming Obama administration,” said Wyden, who added that he had a long breakfast meeting Thursday with former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, “about how he’s [Daschle] going to be the point man for the Obama administration.”
Wyden has a head start in the accelerating healthcare debate because he has already put together a bill that has drawn significant bipartisan support while Kennedy and Baucus have yet to introduce legislation.
Baucus unveiled a 104-page white paper on comprehensive reform last week.
“For the first time in the history of the Senate we have an actual bill with a large bipartisan group of sponsors,” Wyden said of his broad proposal.
Wyden also made a point to praise his colleagues: “Chairman Baucus has a very fine white paper and Kennedy has been my hero on healthcare — he has been the inspiration behind the effort to fix healthcare.”
Wyden and his colleagues urged Obama to endorse a plan that gives all Americans healthcare coverage; provides for affordable and portable coverage; overhauls the private insurance market; and modernizes federal tax rules for healthcare coverage.
Wyden said he wants to repeal tax breaks for what he called “gold-plated” health insurance plans.
“I want to make the case to the Obama administration and Sen. Baucus that you ought to take away tax breaks for designer smiles and gold-plated healthcare perks,” said Wyden, who predicted the effort to eliminate these healthcare-related tax breaks could face strong opposition.
Wyden and his colleagues also urged Obama to demand that reform promote improved disease prevention, make healthcare prices and choices easier for consumers to understand, and improve the quality and value of healthcare services.
Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) also signed the letter to Obama. |
