Senate Democrats said they were close to a deal on a sweeping health care reform bill, having tailored the measure to attract the most Republican support they can find — even if it is just a handful of GOP members.
“We are not there yet, but we are very close,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chief negotiator.
At the heart of a deal is a proposal to create a health insurance cooperative to provide health care to most of the 46 million who are uninsured, an idea that could replace the government-run option that many Democrats prefer but which would likely guarantee a “no” vote from every Republican.
The leading proposal for paying for the plan centers on taxing nonunion workers’ health insurance benefits.
“The cooperative plan is doing very well in the negotiations, but there are still negotiations,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., another top negotiator on the Baucus bill.
Conrad said the proposal calls for the co-op to be initially paid for with up to $4 billion in government “startup” funds and would be formed as a national system with state affiliates governed by an “interim board” appointed by the president or the department of Health and Human Services.
Conrad said the co-op would have to provide competition against private insurance companies, but it would not be operated by the government.
Conrad and Baucus are working on the bill with Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, of Iowa. It is the only real bipartisan plan in the works. Two other plans, one in the Senate and one in the House, are decidedly more liberal and emphasize a robust public-run option that would compete with private plans.
The Baucus bill is probably the best hope for Congress to pass a health care plan this year and fulfill the Obama administration’s top agenda item.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the Senate would work with “a handful of Republicans who are really interested in health care reform and find out what it takes” to pass a bill. No Republican in the Senate would vote for an unrestricted public insurance option.
“You can have the greatest health plan in the world on paper, but if it does not pass, nothing changes,” Conrad said.
Conrad said the cost of the Baucus bill has been trimmed “quite markedly” from the $1.6 billion estimate assessed by the Congressional Budget Office. The bill would also mandate coverage for everyone, he said.
Negotiators are discussing capping tax exemptions for health care benefits valued at $15,000 to $17,000, but it was unclear whether certain income levels would be excluded.
Durbin conceded many Democrats would oppose the health care benefit tax.
Conrad suggested there was little alternative.
“If we are going to add new people, how do you pay for that?” a visibly frustrated Conrad asked. “Come on gang, you’ve got to live in the real world.”
