Now that the health care bill has passed the House, Democrats will attempt to make critical changes to the measure through a corrections bill that the Senate will take up as early as Tuesday.
The House passed the corrections bill Sunday, but it faces a much tougher time in the Senate, where it will have to be considered under budget reconciliation rules being employed to thwart a Republican filibuster with just 51 votes instead of the usual 60 votes. The corrections bill would remove from the health care bill some of the special deals cut for certain states including Nebraska, which was to receive permanent federal aide for the planned expansion of Medicaid. It would also increase subsidies and protect unions from much of a planned excise tax on expensive insurance policies. The corrections bill would shift the cost onto those earning more than $200,000, and provide a new 3 percent tax on investment income.
House members have been wary of the Senate’s assurances that they will be able to pass the corrections bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., delivered a letter to the House Democratic caucus on Saturday promising to “make these improvements” to the bill.
But Reid won’t have the final say in the matter. Republicans have threatened to object to the bill on various points of order, and their protests could be upheld by the Senate parliamentarian.
Senate GOP leaders say they have already uncovered “a rule violation that could doom the entire reconciliation proposal.”
According to the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the bill cannot be considered under the 51-vote rule because it raises $29 billion in new Social Security revenue.
“The entire reconciliation bill is subject to a point of order and rejection in the Senate should it pass the House,” McConnell spokesman Don Stewart warned Sunday.
Democrats called the Republican warning on reconciliation a “scare tactic.”
