Finance Committee Passes Health Care Reform Legislation - October 13, 2009

The Senate Finance Committee – the last committee of jurisdiction to act – passed its version of health care reform legislation on October 13. The vote on passage of the bill was 14-9, with 13 Democrats and one Republican (Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine) voting for passage. Unlike legislation passed by committees of jurisdiction in the House and a bill passed earlier this year by the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the Finance bill does not include a “public plan.” Now key senators will work to combine the Finance-passed bill with the one passed by the HELP Committee—a process expected to take at least a week. The House of Representatives continues to work to combine health care reform legislation passed by three committees of jurisdiction. The full House may take up the combined legislation as early as next week. NAPH has updated a side-by-side comparison of the various bills being considered.