Has Day of Federal Healthcare Reform Finally Arrived? At What Cost?

03.18.2010
Issues & Policies

After all of the debate, controversy, politics and backroom shenanigans, it appears that Congress is about to vote on a massive health care reform bill as early as this weekend.

But the question remains–at what cost? The answer: A very high one. And not just in dollars (although the near-  $1 trillion price tag definitely is steep).

With Congress apparently able to reach the health care goal line only by sidestepping its own rules, the cost also will be felt in many other procedural and political ways.

To pass the health care monolith, the U.S. House of Representatives will attempt two procedural maneuvers: First, the House will try to “pass” the Senate health care reform bill without even casting a single vote on it.

How is this possible? Voting on an amendment to that bill, a little known procedural sleight-of-hand, assumes or deems a bill to be passed, even if the House hasn’t actually approved it.

This move is designed to give political protection to House members who are nervous that an actual vote on the Senate bill could come back to haunt them in the November elections.

Considering widespread public misgivings about this federal health care legislation, lawmakers should be nervous—even in Connecticut, where, according to the Quinnipiac University Connecticut poll, residents here oppose the current federal legislation 48% to 42%.

Second, in order to make the Senate bill (already approved by the Senate and only needing House endorsement before it hits the president’s desk) more palatable to leery House members, both chambers would then “fix” the Senate bill.

This would be accomplished by adopting a new piece of legislation that modifies the “passed” Senate bill.

What’s more, in order to make sure that Democrats can pass the new bill without risking a Republican filibuster, the Senate would vote on the second bill using the reconciliation process—meaning only 50 votes (plus the vote of the vice president, who presides over the Senate) would be needed for passage.

Usually, reconciliation is reserved for budgetary and fiscal matters only and generally is not used for making such massive policy changes as envisioned by the Senate bill. Without the reconciliation process, however, Democrats would need 60 votes to close off debate on the bill, a number probably not attainable with the recent election of Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown from Massachusetts.

If you are confused by this process, you’re not alone. These complicated procedural sidesteps are not commonplace nor should they be. Healthcare reform is critical, -but this kind of gamesmanship simply allows misguided, big-government legislation to be rammed into law without following its own protective rules in the process.

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