Health Care Reform Bill Clears Finale Senate Panel, Tough Negotiations Loom

The Senate Finance Committee votes to send its version of the legislation to the Senate floor after months of closely watched deliberations.

Health care reform cleared a major hurdle Tuesday, as the Senate finance Committee voted to send its version of the legislation to the Senate floor after months of closely watched deliberations.
The Committee voted 14-9 in favor of the package. One Republican, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, broke with her party to support the bill. All 13 Democrats on the panel voted in favor of it, while the rest of the republicans opposed it.
The panel was the last of five to act on health legislation, and the vote marked the biggest advance so far toward health care reform, as thecommittee's legislation is considered the best building block for a compromise plan in the full Senate.
But much work still remains on the package, and Senate Republicans made clear after the committee vote that they will continue to fight the bill.
"Its going to cost us an arm and a leg," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R. Utah, said "The costs of this are astronomical"
If passed, the legislation would then go to a conference committee to reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills before heading to the president's desk.
The 10 year, $829 billion Finance Committee bill includes consumer protections such as limits on copays and deductibles and relies on federal subsidies to help low income families purchase coverage. Insurance companies would have to take everyone, and people could shop for insurance within ne state marketplaces called exchanges.
Medicaid would be expanded, an though employers wouldn't be required to cover their workers, they'd have to pay a penalty for each employee who sought insurance with goverment subsidies.
The bill is paid by cuts to Medicares providers and new taxes on insurance companies and others.