Senate Aims to Finish Health Reform Debate by End of Year - December 8, 2009

The debate on health reform legislation enters its second week on the Senate floor as Senate leaders work to find the magic formula for achieving 60 votes to invoke cloture and pass the bill. The key issues (whether and in what form to include a “public plan” and how to deal with abortion) appear to be the most significant sticking points for Senate negotiators. The stated goal of Senate leaders is to pass its version of health reform before recessing on December 23. Some observers have speculated that the Senate may move the process forward even faster by working with House leaders to incorporate House priorities into the Senate bill through a manager’s amendment, passing the bill in the Senate and then sending it to the House for final passage and transmission to the President for his signature. NAPH continues to work with Senate and House offices on its top priorities: Reducing the size of the Medicaid and Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payment cuts in the Senate bill, extending 340B drug discounts to the inpatient setting and promoting care coordination activities at safety net hospitals.