Rachel Sladja reported that the House health care bill will reach the floor of the chamber today, with a vote possible as soon as Thursday. That could be delayed by a day, with the rule introduced tomorrow. There would be a 72-hour gap between introduction on the floor and a vote, to honor the promise of a 3-day window for review of the legislation.
There are no amendments expected to be allowed for the legislation. However, there will in all likelihood be a “manager’s amendment,” which the House leadership can offer as a substitute to the legislation already offered. Liberal lawmakers are pushing for major changes in that manager’s amendment, on a host of issues. We have already chronicled the changes sought by Raul Grijalva on provider rates for the public option and repealing the insurance industry’s anti-trust exemption. But other groups of House members have their own changes in mind.
Some are trying to repeal the “Health Care Choice Compact” provision, which would allow insurers to sell their products in multiple states without having to abide by the regulations and laws of the state where they issue the insurance. This could lead to jurisdiction shopping like we see in the credit card industry, where companies avoid state regulation by setting up operations in a low- or no-regulation state.
Another letter to Nancy Pelosi, which I’ve obtained, seeks to add back in the “Kucinich amendment,” which would waive the ERISA law to allow states to set up their own single-payer systems. The letter is signed by 7 House liberals, including Progressive Caucus co-chairs Lynn Woolsey and Raul Grijalva, and single-payer supporters Eric Massa, John Conyers, Neil Abercrombie, Jan Schakowsky and Dennis Kucinich. They call the waiver to allow states to adopt single payer “an incremental reform [...] But it allows the country to move incrementally in the direction that is needed.” It’s likely that Kucinich’s vote for the total reform package hinges on getting this amendment back in the bill, and given the multiple competing dynamics in the caucus, the leadership needs every vote they can get.
These are but two of the many different fights being held in the hours leading up to the unveiling of the final manager’s amendment.
3 Comments
Spotlight



Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About FDL News Desk
Advanced search
David, do you really think “the unveiling of the final manager’s amendment.” will occur? It’s my understanding that such occurs just before they go to ‘conference’ with no ‘unveiling’.
holy cow, how did i miss this one? i did not know that had been included. thanks dday for highlighting it.
i really care about this one for selfish reasons. here in MA we have much better regulation than in much of the country (and did prior to the 2006 reform). i would hate to see that undermined, especially as my life may depend on it.
that and/or no kucinich amendment would likely be reasons i would oppose the bill.
They’re committed to it because of the 72-hour promise.