This and next week will be the end-all-be-all for health care reform, and we’re on the edge of our seats to find out what happens. With the House vote speculated to take place on Sunday, Republicans are already preparing tactics to use to squash the bill it is passed. Lawyers and interest groups are talking about lawsuits while Senators have procedural strategies aligned.
If the current Senate health insurance bill passes the House, then President Obama will sign it. The Senate will then vote on the package of changes through reconciliation. Reconciliation will allow Democrats to avoid a filibuster but presents the bill with a set of procedural challenges.
Republicans will have two major ways to stop this process. First Republicans can raise budget questions and whether the bill complies with the chamber’s pay-as-you-go rules. Also the bill cannot contain anything “extraneous ” in the bill referred to as the Byrd Rule. Under the Byrd Rule, every element of the bill must affect the budget in some way or could be removed.
Republicans can then use the amendment process to delay passage. According to Politico, Republicans can offer as many amendments they want after 20 hours of debate. This could force Democrats to vote on controversial issues in the bill which would alter the package of changes. If anything is changed in the bill, it will be sent back to the House to be voted on again.
So far, here are some of the major provisions:
- The Cadillac tax on generous health insurance plans will be delayed from to 2018.
- It removes the “sweetheart ” deals for Nebraska and Florida.
- Medicare payroll tax on the wealthy will be raised.
- The doughnut hole in Medicare will be narrowed and subsidies for lower-income people to purchase insurance will be boosted.
If this bill as it’s currently written is approved by the full House, it must make it through reconciliation process in the Senate.
President Obama has repeatedly said that the American people don’t care about the legislative procedures, they just care that things get done. We’ll see very soon if the president is right.