Americans cite access over cost in healthcare poll

As Congress braces for the next stage in the fight over healthcare reform, a new poll show that Americans say that access, rather than cost, is the most urgent problem.

In a Gallup poll released this morning, 32% of those surveyed said access to healthcare was their most pressing concern. That was significantly larger than the 18% who cited cost as the most urgent issue.

Access and costs are key issues as the Senate prepares for next week’s debate on its healthcare bill. The House has passed a different version that will have to be reconciled before a final bill can be sent to President Obama.

About 83% of legal residents younger than 65 have healthcare insurance. The House bill would increase that to about 96% while the Senate bill would increase it to 94%.

The Senate bill would cost an estimated $848 billion over 10 years while the House bill has an estimated  net cost of $894 billion over the decade. But opponents sharply dispute those numbers, arguing they are based on cuts in spending that are not assured and penalties and fees that are unclear.

Republicans and Democrats will spar about both issues in the next several weeks and throughout the 2010 mid-term election cycle. Only one Republican in the House crossed the aisle to vote for healthcare reform. No Republican backed the weekend’s cloture vote in the Senate.

Both houses are in recess for the Thanksgiving holidays, but that hasn’t stop the highly partisan debate.

 “We prefer to go at it with Republicans if we can reach compromises in some areas,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) “But we’re not going to not pass a bill.”

 Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas argued that the Senate bill put an unfair burden on businesses and the economy, still trying to recover from the recession.

--Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photo: Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, left, speaks at a news conference on the Senate's healthcare bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, right, and Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut also pushed the bill last week. Credit: Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA.

They'll debate healthcare -- and the 2010 elections

With the Senate's 60-39 vote to proceed to debate, after Thanksgiving, on a healthcare bill that the president is seeking by year's end, the debate of the 2010 midterm elections has been joined.

Democrats, in control of the White House and Congress, will present the congressional elections as a question of fulfilling an agenda of progress and change and keeping "the party of no," the intransigent GOP, in check.

Republicans will frame the midterms as a chance to reclaim at least part of Congress from a party trying to take over not just healthcare and imposing big government, big spending and taxation on every aspect of life -- "socialization," a leading Republican senator calls it.

Full story: Reaction to Senate healthcare vote offers a preview of 2010 campaigns

-- Mark Silva

Senate OKs procedural vote on healthcare debate

Democrats and their allies formally moved their healthcare bill to the Senate floor tonight, rebuffing Republicans and ensuring that lawmakers will get a long and acrimonious debate on the overhaul of the healthcare system.

All 58 Democrats and the two independents who usually vote with them backed cloture on a motion to proceed, a needed procedural step to bring the Democratic-backed healthcare bill to the floor and open formal debate. Thirty-nine Republicans opposed the motion.

Tonight’s action means that the Senate can begin its debate after the Thanksgiving recess. But it doesn’t ensure any outcome: Centrist Democrats said they voted to allow debate, though they insisted they would be proposing amendments – as will Republicans.

The vote came after two days of highly partisan debate. The Senate galleries were full, a rare occurrence at any time, but especially on a Saturday night.

"All it would take is one member from the other side of the aisle," said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, hoping that Democrats would break their unity. "Just one."

Republicans in the past two days have argued that the measure, expected to cost $848 billion over 10 years, was too expensive and would be funded by a variety of taxes and gimmicks. They criticized the plan as a blueprint for too much government control and too little focus on helping an ailing economy.

Democrats retorted that fixing healthcare financing was crucial to any economic improvement and that changing healthcare insurance funding would help the middle class as well as expanding healthcare access to almost all Americans.

"I again invite my colleagues, my Republican colleagues, to join on the right side of history. I invite them to join us in at the very least in a debate on our future," said Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Those arguments, as well as disputes over funding for abortions and immigrants, will dominate the forthcoming weeks as senators try to pass a bill in time to meet President Obama’s deadline of signing a healthcare law this year. 

The House has already narrowly passed a different and more generous healthcare bill. Differences on the public funding options, taxes and fees, and other issues will have to be resolved in a conference committee before a final bill can be sent to Obama.

The president has made healthcare reform his top domestic priority for this year and Republicans have been insistent in trying to block any victory as the midterm election looms next year. Most polls show people saying they generally dislike Congress, and even Obama’s popularity has begun to slip below 50% by several counts.

Tonight’s vote followed two days of debate. But the real decisions came earlier in the day when centrist senators announced they would support bringing the healthcare bill to the floor for fuller debate. The earlier stories:

Crucial vote to advance Senate healthcare bill seems assured

Mary Landrieu to back Senate move on healthcare debate

Third centrist backs party in healthcare vote

-- Noam N. Levey and Michael Muskal

twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Third centrist Democrat backs party on healthcare procedural vote

Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln said today that she will vote to bring her party’s healthcare bill to the Senate floor, all but ensuring that the Senate will pass a key procedural motion tonight and will be able to begin formal debate on a sweeping overhaul of healthcare after Thanksgiving.

Lincoln was the last of three centrist Democrats whose votes were crucial to bringing the Democratic healthcare bill to the floor for formal debate. Sixty votes are needed tonight to pass cloture on a motion to proceed — the mechanism to bring the bill to the floor and open formal debate.

“I will vote in support of cloture on the motion to proceed on this bill,” Lincoln said on the Senate floor.

Like her colleagues, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu and Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, Lincoln said her decision to support her party and to bring the bill to the floor does not mean she will support the final product.

“Let me be perfectly clear I am opposed to a new government-administered healthcare plan as a part of comprehensive health insurance reform and I will not vote for the proposal that has been introduced,” Lincoln said. She said she was looking forward to being able to offer amendments.

“I don’t agree with everything in this bill,’ she said, but “I have concluded that I believe it is more important that we begin this debate to improve our nation’s healthcare system for all Americans, rather than simply drop the issue and walk. That’s not what people sent us her to do.

“The vote tonight will mark the beginning of consideration by the full U.S. Senate, not the end.”

Of the three centrists, Lincoln has been the target of the most political pressure because she faces a tough reelection campaign next year. Lincoln took note of the political reality by saying she will not bend to pressure from the left or right. “My first loyalty is with the people of Arkansas,” she said.

The vote is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Mary Landrieu to back Senate move on healthcare debate

-- Noam N. Levey and Michael Muskal

twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photo:  Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas during a hearing this week. Credit: Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images

Mary Landrieu to back Senate move on healthcare debate

Ending weeks of suspense, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu announced today that she plans to vote this evening to end a Republican filibuster and begin formal debate on legislation to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system.

“After a thorough review of the bill,” she said on the Senate floor, “I have decided there are enough significant reforms and safeguards in this bill to move forward, but much more work needs to be done.”

But Landrieu insisted that just because she is voting to bring the bill to the floor doesn’t mean that she will back the final bill.

“My vote today to move forward on this important debate should in no way be construed on how I might vote as the vote ends,” she said.

Landrieu was one of three Democratic holdouts whom Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been trying for weeks to persuade to back the procedural vote tonight.

Reid included language in his bill that would boost aid for Louisiana's Medicaid insurance program for the poor in a bid for Landrieu's support.

With the backing of the three holdouts, Democratic leaders would be all but assured of clearing the procedural hurdle, a key step if Congress is to send President Obama a healthcare bill by the end of January, as party leaders hope.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, another one of the holdouts, announced Friday that he would vote for the motion, though he cautioned that he still may not back the legislation when it comes up for a final vote later this year.

The last of the three, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, is scheduled to announce her plans on the Senate floor this afternoon.

The vote is scheduled for 8 p.m.

-- Noam N. Levey and Michael Muskal

twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photo: Sen. Mary Landrieu heads to a Democratic caucus on healthcare reform this week. Credit: Alex Brandon / Associated Press

Centrist Democrat Ben Nelson backs move to debate healthcare on Senate floor

One of three pivotal centrist Democratic senators announced this morning that he will support bringing the healthcare reform bill to the floor for full debate.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson said he will vote for the motion to proceed to debate on the Senate floor. The Senate began debate on the vote, called a cloture motion, this morning and is expected to vote on the procedural issue Saturday night.

“This weekend, I will vote for the motion to proceed to bring that debate onto the Senate floor,”  Nelson said on the floor of the Senate. He noted that his vote was only to bring the bill forward.

“It is not for or against the new Senate healthcare bill released Wednesday,” he said. “It is only to begin debate and an opportunity to make improvements.”

Democrats need 60 votes to bring the bill to the floor. There are 58 Democrats and two independents who caucus with them. All 40 Republicans are expected to oppose the cloture effort.

Attention has focused on moderate Democrats Nelson, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

Landrieu has suggested she would vote to allow debate to begin, putting the spotlight on Lincoln, who’s facing a difficult reelection fight next year.

“We are not assuming a thing. We are working hard to bring all Democrats together for the 60 votes necessary to proceed to this historic debate,” said Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat. “I’m hoping that we can muster our ranks.”

 --Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photo: Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) walks in the Capitol before heading into a Democratic caucus on healthcare reform on Wednesday. Credit: Associated Press

Related:

Senate begins healthcare debate.

GOP urges better healthcare bill

GOP urges better healthcare bill than the one before the Senate

Republican senators began their part of the healthcare debate by insisting they were prepared to work with Democrats to create a better bill than the one being offered.

“Time after time, I have advocated putting partisan difference aside,” Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said this morning. “The majority drafted a flawed bill that spends too much, does too little to cut healthcare costs and puts senior benefits on the chopping block.”

Those three points are the thrust of the GOP argument against the Democratic bill. The Senate will vote on Saturday whether to bring the bill to the floor for a full debate after Thanksgiving.

“No one on either side of the aisle denies that we need healthcare reform,” Enzi said. But “we need to take a step-by-step approach.”

Among other problems, Republicans argue that the bill is too expensive, has too many new taxes that hurt job creation and is brought into fiscal balance by cutting Medicare payments to seniors.

Democrats counter that the GOP math showing that the bill will cost more than $2 trillion over 10 years is out of line, that the economy will be hurt more if the Congress doesn’t act on healthcare reform and that seniors will not lose services.

On Saturday, all 40 Republicans are expected to vote against bringing the Democratic healthcare bill to the floor. Democrats have 60 votes within their caucus if it holds together as expected on the issue of bringing the bill to the floor.

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter-com/LATimesmuskal

Related:

Senate begins healthcare debate with debate on having a debate

Photo: Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Senate begins healthcare debate with debate on having a debate

The Senate today began debate on the next phase of healthcare reform, arguing over whether to bring the Democratic bill to the floor.

The vote to allow full debate is scheduled for Saturday night. The vote, called a cloture motion, requires 60 votes to pass, and if that hurdle is cleared, debate would begin after Thanksgiving.

Today's debate, with Democrats and Republicans alternating every hour, is a strange mixture, with senators arguing their positions on healthcare reform but, more important, making a case on whether to bring the bill forward so that a full, and lengthy, debate can proceed.

“We will have a lot of opportunity in next few weeks to debate the issues,” Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), said on the floor this morning.

“I very much urge my colleagues to rally around this effort,” Bingaman said. “I hope, frankly, we will get some Republican support for this. I think it is very unfortunate that we are going into this debate with reports that all Republicans are agreeing to oppose healthcare reform.

“Just to say no, to say we are opposed to reform is not a good option. The American people deserve better than that. I hope we will have a serious, substantive discussion,” Bingaman said.

Bipartisanship was a keynote for the first Democrats who spoke. Republicans will get their chance to argue against cloture later.

The real issue today is to begin to make the case for the public while the serious vote-counting takes place behind the scenes.

Democrats have 58 votes and can usually count on two independents who caucus with them, though one, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, has said he opposes the bill but will vote to bring it to the floor.

Three centrist Democratic senators are also question marks on the bill but will likely vote to let debate to begin.

Republicans have insisted that all GOP senators will vote against bringing the bill to the floor, so the Democrats have no margin for mistake.

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photo: Democratic Sens. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico (left) and Kent Conrad of North Dakota take part in a markup on healthcare legislation in September. Credit: Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA

Obama catches up on dad time

Fresh from his weeklong trip through Asia, President Obama is taking time to catch up on dad duty.

The president and First Lady Michelle Obama stopped by 8-year-old daughter Sasha’s school this morning.

White House officials said they were visiting Sidwell Friends School in Bethesda, Md., for a school activity, but declined to elaborate.

Although Obama has no public events planned for today, it’s a busy time for him. The Senate is set for a make-or-break vote Saturday on one of the president’s signature issues — overhauling the healthcare system. And Obama is moving closer to his long-awaited decision on strategy for the war in Afghanistan.

-- Associated Press

Pelosi knocks abortion language in House healthcare bill

Speaker Nancy Pelosi today criticized abortion language in the recently passed House healthcare bill, saying she was more pleased with how the Senate handled the issue.

During a televised news conference, Pelosi said the amendment “goes beyond maintaining the status quo” on abortion funding, but added she expected conversations on the final form of healthcare reform will continue to find some common ground on abortion.

The amendment, offered by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) generally prohibits the use of federal subsidies to purchase insurance plans that offer elective abortions. Those supporting abortion rights say it changes the current federal policy, limiting a woman’s right to choose. Conservatives opposing abortion argue that passage of the amendment was an important win, though some contend that the limits are within current federal guidelines.

The House passed the healthcare bill with just two votes to spare, 220-215, with just one Republican legislator crossing party lines to back the measure. The Senate version is expected to go into serious debate after Thanksgiving.

Today, Pelosi argued that there was general agreement among leaders that the healthcare bill would maintain the status quo on abortion, even though the Stupak amendment went further.

“I’m pleased with the language in the Senate bill,” Pelosi said. “Conversations continue, and we will find common ground.”

Liberal Democrats have rushed to reassure abortion-rights activists about the Stupak amendment. In a recent interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” White House senior advisor David Axelrod said he believed that differences over abortion will be worked out before the final bill reaches President Obama’s desk.

“The bill that Congress passed does change the status quo," Axelrod said. "There are discussions ongoing about how to adjust it accordingly."

Abortion is a wedge political issue, but the latest polling shows it has less of an impact on the current healthcare debate. About 56% of those polled say the abortion issue is a major factor in their opposition to proposed reforms, but that is less than those who chose concerns over big government, overall cost and the impact of changes on their own coverage, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

“When healthcare opponents are asked in an open-ended question to describe their main reason for opposing the congressional proposals, just 3% raise the issue of abortion funding,” according to Pew. When asked to choose from among a list of objections, 8% say that abortion funding is the most important reason for their opposition.

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photo: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at a recent Senate hearing. Credit: Michael Reynolds / EPA