Democrats Clear Path for Health-Care Bills

[Zeno Swijtink]

Democrats Clear Path for Health-Care Bills
GREG HITT and NAFTALI BENDAVID, Wall Street Journal


WASHINGTON -- Top Democrats tentatively agreed on a plan that would fast-track President Barack Obama's health-care initiative and ensure it couldn't be bogged down by a Senate filibuster.

The health-care protection would be at the heart of a compromise version of the fiscal 2010 budget, which Democratic leaders in the House and Senate hope to push through both chambers early next week. That would provide Mr. Obama with a symbolic victory in time to mark his 100th day in office Wednesday.

Congressional aides who described the deal Friday cautioned that a few details of the blueprint remain to be finalized, including the amount of spending on education. But they stressed that the essential framework of the budget had been hammered out in a late-night negotiating session Thursday, and top Democrats were busy Friday briefing colleagues.

Even after a budget is adopted, action will be required on separate legislation to spend the money on specific items. But the outline is significant, particularly in the legislative protections it confers on priorities such as Mr. Obama's health-care plan.

Overhauling the nation's health-care system is a top Obama goal, and Democrats in the House and Senate are determined to begin moving legislation this summer. But the initiative is certain to be contentious: It would come with a big price tag and a possible mandate that everyone who can afford health insurance must buy it.
[House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a press conference in March.] Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a press conference in March.

In the House, Democrats have firm control of the levers of power and will be able to push through a health bill as long as they build consensus within their ranks. But passage is more complicated in the Senate, where members have wide latitude to block bills.

Under normal Senate rules, the support of 60 senators would be needed to thwart the Republicans' likely attempt to kill any health-care overhaul with a filibuster, a procedural move that can stall legislation indefinitely.

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) said he is hopeful of reaching bipartisan consensus on a health-care package. He has been convening a series of roundtables with senators, health analysts and industry officials to work on building wide support for the effort from both parties.

"When we jam something down someone's throat, it's not going to last," Mr. Baucus said.

In the event he fails, the emerging budget deal would allow Democrats to overcome a filibuster because it gives health-care provisions "reconciliation" protection. That categorization shields bills from procedural delays and requires just 51 votes to pass. Democrats currently have 58 seats in the Senate.

President George W. Bush used reconciliation to overcome Democratic opposition and enact his major tax cuts.

Republicans nonetheless blasted the move to shield health care from a filibuster as divisive. "Ramming through a partisan plan that needs only a simple majority to pass is a far cry from the bipartisanship that has been promised," New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg said.

The budget blueprint also includes filibuster-proof protections for an Obama plan to overhaul student-loan programs, congressional aides said. The proposal would cut back on federal subsidies that now go to private loan companies, and would steer the money instead to direct assistance for needy students and others going to college.

The $3.6 trillion budget, which generally tracks the White House proposal unveiled in February, provides a framework for the government's spending and tax priorities for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The blueprint would make good on a promise by Mr. Obama to sharply trim the federal deficit, bringing it down to about 3% of gross domestic product in 2014 from more than 8% in 2010, congressional aides said. It would also increase the government's nonmilitary spending by a little more than 7% over 2009.