Obama Signals Openness to Scaled-Down Health Bill, Prefers Broader Measure

January 21, 2010 — President Obama on Wednesday indicated that he might be willing to scale back proposed health care reform legislation in the wake of Tuesday's election of Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R) in Massachusetts, although his preference is still to pass a larger, farther-reaching bill, the New York Times reports. In an interview with ABC News, Obama said, "I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on" (Stolberg/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 1/21). White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement that Obama's "preference is to pass a bill that meets the principles he laid out months ago: more stability and security for those who have insurance, affordable coverage options for those who don't, and lower costs for families, businesses and governments" (Herszenhorn, "Prescriptions," New York Times, 1/20).

In the interview, Obama said, "We know that we need insurance reform, that the health insurance companies are taking advantage of people," adding, "We know that we have to have some form of cost containment because if we don't, then our budgets are going to blow up, and we know that small businesses are going to need help so that they can provide health insurance to their families. Those are the core, some of the core elements to this bill."

Congressional Democrats and White House officials spent a large part of Wednesday trying to find a way to move forward with the loss of a Democratic vote in the Senate. The Times reports that it is unclear if a scaled-down version of the legislation could pass through Congress, though some lawmakers in both parties have called for such an approach. House leaders have signaled that they will not support adopting the Senate's bill (HR 3590) and sending it directly to Obama (New York Times, 1/21). Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who authored an amendment to the House bill (HR 3962) that would prohibit abortion coverage in federally subsidized health plans, said that passing the current Senate bill through the House is not likely to happen because there are several provisions that cause major disagreement, including abortion coverage. "I don't think you can find 100 votes in the House for that bill," he said, adding, "Even before you get to abortion, there are three or four major issues to worry about" (Gray, Detroit Free Press, 1/20).

Several congressional liberals say they would support simply passing the Senate's bill with a commitment from party leaders to make significant modifications to the bill under reconciliation rules that require only 51 votes in the Senate. While other ideas have been floated, Democrats cautioned that no final decision has been made. However, congressional leaders and the White House have agreed that pushing a bill through the Senate before Brown is sworn in is not an option, Politico reports. "The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated," Obama said, adding, "People in Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) agreed with Obama and said, "We're going to wait until the new senator arrives before we do anything on health care" (Budoff Brown/O'Connor, Politico, 1/20).

NPR's "Morning Edition" on Thursday reported on the debate over how to proceed with the health bill in the wake of Brown's election (Rovner, "Morning Edition," NPR, 1/21).

McConnell, Casey Spar Over Abortion Language

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said one issue that is likely to remain a sticking point is how to restrict abortion coverage under insurance plans that receive federal subsidies, Politico reports. "I can't speak for the House. There has been discussion on the House side about whether or not they would take up the Senate bill and pass it," McConnell said, adding, "One issue that could be very problematic for them, and that's the issue of whether or not the taxpayers will pay for abortion" (Shiner, Politico, 1/20).

Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) countered that McConnell's assessment of the situation was "grossly inaccurate" and that the Senate bill's language on the issue ensures that no federal funds pay for abortion care by effectively segregating federal funds from private premiums used to pay for abortion services. Casey said that "it doesn't stop my Republican friends from making assertions," adding that Republicans in the Senate "didn't want to pass any bill, so a debate about a particular provision is probably not all that relevant because they don't want to pass any bill on health care at any time." He also said there is a consensus in the Senate in support of the chamber's abortion coverage language (Frates, "Live Pulse," Politico, 1/20).