Word: billing
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...Baucus unveiled his bill last week. His Senate Finance Committee begins its formal markup of the legislation on Tuesday. And still no Republicans have signed on. Despite the Montana Senator's unshakable confidence that his push for bipartisanship will bear fruit, it is looking increasingly likely that Democrats will have to go it alone on health care - or at least virtually alone, with Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, the one moderate Republican who has remained open to supporting the bill. Walking down the corridors of the Senate on Sept. 17, I encountered a senior Senate Democratic aide whistling Simon & Garfunkel...
...contrary, Republicans are betting that whatever does get passed exclusively by their opponents will come back to bite the Democrats in both 2010 and 2012. Even while some pundits say the GOP will end up looking obstructionist, Republicans are quick to point out that the bulk of the bill - the exchange, which will help small businesses and the 47 million people who are uninsured buy affordable insurance, along with subsidies to help those who can't afford it and new regulations of insurers' practices - wouldn't go into effect until 2013 (this is partly because of the complexity of setting...
...counter that kind of attack, there are significant provisions in the bill that would go into effect immediately, according to a White House aide. The practice of rescission (nixing policies for dubious reasons when sick people need them most) and annual and lifetime spending caps that insurers place on some policyholders would immediately be banned. For those who can't get insurance because of pre-existing conditions, a catastrophic-care fund would immediately be set up to provide coverage. And as part of an agreement with the pharmaceutical industry, seniors who fall into the so-called doughnut hole (after they...
Still, say Republicans, taking on such a monumental bill solo has almost never been done before: 16 Republicans voted for the 1935 Social Security Act and 13 voted to create Medicare, and they are quick to point out that 12 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote for the Medicare Prescription Drug Program in 2005. "I think the sheer act of passing it with Democratic-only votes would result in significant backlash, not just from Republicans - though clearly it would gin up Republican intensity - but I suspect from independents as well," says Whit Ayers, a GOP strategist...
Ayers, though, has a conveniently short memory: only two Democrats were involved in the negotiations surrounding the Medicare Prescription Drug measure. Once a bill like that gets to the floor, members have a much harder time voting down legislation that could help thousands, if not millions, of constituents. For that reason, Democrats are hoping the health-care bill will be a work of compromise so that, when they do get enough votes to bring it to the floor, it will be hard for Republicans to vote against...