Senate Finance Committee Weighs Minimum Benefits Under Health Reform; Public Option Amendment Expected

September 28, 2009 — At Friday's Senate Finance Committee markup of its health reform, the committee voted 14-9 to reject an amendment by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) that would have eliminated a proposal in the bill to allow the federal government to determine a minimum set of health benefits that insurers must provide. Kyl defended his amendment, saying that such regulations would raise the cost of insurance. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) countered that the mandate is necessary to cover essential medical services like maternity care. Kyl said, "I don't need maternity care," to which Stabenow replied, "Your mom probably did" (Pear/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 9/26). The committee also rejected an amendment, proposed by committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), that would have eliminated the requirement that all individuals obtain health insurance (Young, The Hill, 9/25).

Rockefeller, Schumer To Offer Public Plan Amendments

The Finance panel will resume discussions on Tuesday (Reuters, 9/25). Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plan to offer amendments to establish a public plan, though they acknowledge the panel is unlikely to adopt the proposals, The Hill reports. According to The Hill, the lawmakers intend to offer the amendments because they want to force each member of the panel to declare a position on the issue and face the potential consequences of opposition from supporters of the option, including labor unions and grassroots liberal activists (Young, The Hill, 9/28).

Schumer said that although his amendment likely will not be accepted, he believes the final reform bill to come out of Congress "will have a good, strong robust public option" after being combined with legislation from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (S 1679) and the House (HR 3200). How the House will handle the issue is currently in flux. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has supported a public plan, though it is unclear if there are enough votes in the chamber to pass a bill that includes it (The Hill, 9/28).