Interesting, and expected.....
OTB
Senate panel rejects gov't-run insurance option
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent – Tue Sep 29, 7:22 pm ET
WASHINGTON – In a long-anticipated showdown, liberal Democrats twice failed on Tuesday to inject a government-run insurance option into sweeping health care legislation taking shape in the Senate, despite bipartisan agreement that private insurers must change their ways.
The two votes marked a victory for Montana Democrat Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, who is hoping to push his middle-of-the-road measure through the panel by week's end. It also kept alive the possibility that at least one Republican may yet swing behind the overhaul, a key goal of both Baucus and the White House.
The developments occurred as Democrats in the House sought savings to reduce their companion legislation to roughly $900 billion over a decade, the price tag President Barack Obama has suggested.
One option under consideration would reduce the number of individuals and families eligible for federal health coverage subsidies to those earning less than 400 percent of poverty, or about $43,000 for a single person and $88,000 for a family of four, officials said, commenting only on condition of anonymity. The subsidies are designed to make insurance more affordable, and account for a significant percentage of spending in the bill.
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OTB
OTB
Senate panel rejects gov't-run insurance option
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent – Tue Sep 29, 7:22 pm ET
WASHINGTON – In a long-anticipated showdown, liberal Democrats twice failed on Tuesday to inject a government-run insurance option into sweeping health care legislation taking shape in the Senate, despite bipartisan agreement that private insurers must change their ways.
The two votes marked a victory for Montana Democrat Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, who is hoping to push his middle-of-the-road measure through the panel by week's end. It also kept alive the possibility that at least one Republican may yet swing behind the overhaul, a key goal of both Baucus and the White House.
The developments occurred as Democrats in the House sought savings to reduce their companion legislation to roughly $900 billion over a decade, the price tag President Barack Obama has suggested.
One option under consideration would reduce the number of individuals and families eligible for federal health coverage subsidies to those earning less than 400 percent of poverty, or about $43,000 for a single person and $88,000 for a family of four, officials said, commenting only on condition of anonymity. The subsidies are designed to make insurance more affordable, and account for a significant percentage of spending in the bill.
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OTB
