Sen. Max Baucus is readying his Senate Finance Committee to move a health care reform bill to the full Senate, with or without the support of Republicans negotiating their position.
CongressDaily: "Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus is moving forward with a chairman's mark of healthcare overhaul legislation next week regardless of whether Republican support exists for the measure. 'I very much hope and expect Republicans to be on board. I don't know how many, but if there are not any, I'm going to move forward in any event,' Baucus said after a meeting today with Finance Democrats."
"Senate Finance Health Subcommittee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., was not pleased with Baucus' proposal, in particular the co-op provision. 'The co-op has never been presented with any possibility of its working,' said Rockefeller, a champion of the public option. Baucus also indicated a 'trigger' proposal, which would permit the public option to kick in only if private insurers do not provide affordable insurance, is not an alternative" (Edney, 9/9).
The New York Times: "Mr. Baucus said his panel would take up the bill even if the three Republicans who have been negotiating with him for months refuse to sign on. … The three Republicans are Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, and Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming. … Perhaps the biggest is serious disagreement among his group of six negotiators over how to expand Medicaid, the government insurance program for low-income Americans, and especially over how much states would have to pay in additional costs."
Snowe has raised questions about whether states that currently cover some childless adults in their Medicaid programs will be penalized under the overhaul proposal.