Climactic Senate Finance committeevote scheduled Tuesday on 10-year, $829B health care billOctober 8th, 2009 After long debate, health care Senate vote TuesdayWASHINGTON — The top Senate Democrat says the final committee vote on health care legislation will take place next week. Nevada Democratic Sen.
Congressional tax experts say industry taxes are $29 billion higher in health billOctober 6th, 2009 Higher taxes in health care billWASHINGTON — Congressional tax experts say Senate health care legislation would impose $29 billion more in taxes on health care industries than originally thought. The Joint Committee on Taxation says drug companies, medical device manufacturers and insurers would pay $121 billion over 10 years as a result of taxes in the Senate Finance Committee bill.
Senate Finance Committee vote slips as lawmakers wait for cost figuresOctober 5th, 2009 Senate committee vote slipsWASHINGTON — It's going to take a little longer for the last congressional committee writing health care legislation to finish its work. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana had hoped for a final vote by his panel on Tuesday, but a cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office isn't ready yet.
Democrats, Republicans ready fresh challenges to far-reaching health care overhaul billSeptember 24th, 2009 Tensions on rise in health care debateWASHINGTON — Tempers are flaring as the Senate Finance Committee starts its third day of exhaustive deliberations on a sweeping overhaul of the health care system. Republican Sen.
Details on the costs of the Senate Finance Committee chairman's health care billSeptember 16th, 2009 Details on costs of Baucus health care billA rundown of the new spending in Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus' health care overhaul bill, and a look at how it's paid for. The numbers are 10-year totals covering 2010-2019.
Baucus says he expects Republican support for health care bill on final committee voteSeptember 16th, 2009 Baucus calls health care bill commonsense measureWASHINGTON — A prominent Democratic senator is calling his 10-year, $856 billion health care bill a common sense measure that can win broad support. Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, unveiled his much-awaited legislation Wednesday after months of bipartisan negotiations that failed to win visible Republican support.
White House calls new Senate Finance health plan a 'building block', not the end of debateSeptember 16th, 2009 White House: Senate health bill a 'building block'WASHINGTON — The White House says a health care reform bill from a key Senate committee is "an important building block" in getting closer to comprehensive health care reform. Sen. Max Baucus released the long-awaited version of the bill from his Senate Finance committee Wednesday.
GOP senator predicts Democrats will use rare voting procedure to try to pass health care billAugust 23rd, 2009 Talk of Senate voting maneuvers on health careWASHINGTON — A Republican senator predicts Democrats will turn to a little-used voting procedure to try get around GOP opposition and pass health care legislation. It takes 60 votes to shut down GOP opposition and move ahead to an up-or-down vote on a bill.
Democratic senator says splitting health care bill into separate measures unlikely to workAugust 23rd, 2009 Senator: Single health care bill a better approachWASHINGTON — A key Democrat in the health care debate says separating out the various issues and putting them in different bills isn't likely to work. Some lawmakers have suggested that a separate bill with changes that are supported by Republicans and Democrats would be one route toward progress on the health care overhaul.
White House Quip: Obama would go to moon in pursuit of deal to overhaul health care system nowAugust 19th, 2009 White House: Obama would go to moon for his goalWASHINGTON — How far is President Barack Obama willing to go for a deal on overhauling the health care system?
Try all the way to the moon. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs joked Wednesday that Obama would orbit the moon if he thought it would help get a deal on a bill Congress can vote on after it returns from summer break.
Look at what Congress has done so far this yearAugust 8th, 2009 Look at what Congress has done so far this yearSome of the Democratic-led 111th Congress' accomplishments in the six months since Democratic President Barack Obama took office:
—Passed a $787 billion stimulus package of tax cuts, benefit increases and new spending on road, bridge and other job-producing projects aimed at helping pull the country out of a recession. —Expanded health care subsidies for children of low-income parents to cover an additional 4 million children.
Reid: Democratic senators united on need for health care bill this, aiming for bipartisanshipAugust 4th, 2009 Reid: Democratic senators united on health careWASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says his party's caucus has "absolute unity" on the need to pass health care reform this year. The Nevadan, joined by other lawmakers, spoke to reporters Tuesday afternoon on a White House driveway after Senate Democrats met over lunch with President Barack Obama.
GOP senator involved in bipartisan talks tamps down expectations for health care billJuly 30th, 2009 GOP senator says health care bill not readyWASHINGTON — A key Republican senator involved in bipartisan talks on health care says there's no way a breakthrough will happen before lawmakers' August recess. Wyoming Sen.
Senate health committee is first panel to act; vote follows party linesJuly 15th, 2009 Sen. Kennedy's committee passes health care billWASHINGTON — The Senate health committee has passed legislation to revamp health care, becoming the first congressional committee to act on President Barack Obama's goal of overhauling the system this year. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 13-10 along party lines to pass a $600-billion measure that would expand coverage to nearly all Americans by requiring individuals get insurance and employers to contribute to the cost.
Obama aide expects Senate to deal with health care overhaul before acting on climate changeJune 28th, 2009 Axelrod expects Senate to tackle health care firstWASHINGTON — A top presidential adviser says it probably will be the fall before the Senate deals with a major climate change bill that just passed the House. White House aide David Axelrod says he thinks health care overhaul will be the first thing on senators' agenda.