Over the past few days, there have been numerous stories about the process the House Democratic leadership has taken to pass their health care bill (HR 3962). The route the leadership has chosen to bring the bill up for a vote is complicated, due to both House rules and Democratic leadership procedure. Below a Q&A for the consideration of the legislation:
Why is it important the bill was posted online last night? The House Democratic leadership promised Democratic members 72 hours to review and consider the final bill before holding a vote. The intent of this is to allow members to review every section, especially those of interest to individual members, so they could be comfortable with their vote on the bill as well as allow their constituents to see the final bill. Last night (Tuesday), the House Rules Committee posted the bill and the manager’s amendment on their website, starting the 72 hour clock.
Does this mean the bill will be voted on Friday night? Reports are that the bill will receive a vote as early as Saturday afternoon, but the House Democratic leadership is maintaining a deadline of before Veterans Day for a vote.
What is the manger’s amendment? The manager’s amendment, also posted last night, is a series of technical corrections to the legislation based on feedback from members. The amendment gives the state insurance regulators the authority to determine if an insurance company unduly raises its rates and impose penalties; this provision is meant to prevent immediate rate hikes by insurance companies after passage of the bill, according to the Democratic leadership. The amendment also prohibits illegal immigrants from participating in the temporary high-risk pool created by the bill.
Is the abortion controversy dealt with in the manger’s amendment? According to The Hill, the caucus is finalizing language on abortion that could swing enough votes for the health care bill’s passage. To ensure that they could start the 72 hour clock, the House leadership said that abortion language would be handled in the bill’s rule; all bills that are considered by the House go through the Rules Committee to set the parameters for debate. Thus when the Rules Committee passes the rules for the health care bill, the rule will have language modifying or adding the current abortion wording.
Quick Hits
The Hill is updating its count of where House Democrats will vote on the health care bill… The House Republicans offer their legislation in the Rules Committee as a substitute… Senate moderates talk amongst themselves about how to improve the Senate health care bill… Senator Dodd (D-CT) differs from the White House on how financial regulations reform would look.
