Obama visits Hill to push health plan
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President Barack Obama put his personal prestige on the line Sunday with an unusual weekend visit to the Senate as Democrats moved toward a new vision of a public competitor to private insurance -- a plan negotiators hope could be the key to breaking a months-long impasse on a health reform bill.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden called on Senate Democrats to set aside differences and pass legislation by the end of the year. "They're doing great; they're going to get it done," Obama said as he departed the 45-minute closed-door meeting in the Mansfield Room.
But the real talk of the weekend was the emergence of a new proposal that underscored how far Democrats are moving from their original vision of a government-run insurance plan to compete with private companies -- and just how big an obstacle to a bill the public option has become.
There appeared to be serious consideration of creating a national health plan similar to the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan. It would be administered by the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the federal plan for members of Congress, and all of the insurance options would be not-for-profit.
It holds appeal for moderates, who have opposed establishing a new government insurance plan, but might also satisfy liberal demands for more choice and competition to private insurers.
Democratic senators representing both ends of the political spectrum said the negotiations were moving in the right direction: toward a compromise.
"People really do realize how important it is to get ultimate reform and there's a lot of good things in the bill so I hope we can," said Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he had personally asked five moderates and five progressives to work things out on the issues that they care about, including the public option and small business coverage. "Progress is being made, and that's not just talk. We've made a lot of progress," Reid said.
"There are still a few things we have to work out [in] the bill, and the issues are being narrowed as we speak. We're working toward a consensus. We're not there, but we understand how important it is that we arrive at a consensus, and we're going to do that just as quickly as we can."
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said there are several options on the table that liberal and conservative Democrats are considering in order to strike a deal on the public insurance option in the health care debate -- and that negotiations are still ongoing.
And Durbin, who is a big supporter of the public option, is very much open to striking a deal.
"I'm looking for an alternative that creates competition for the health insurance companies," he said on "Fox News Sunday."
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who is strongly supportive of a public option, said differences between liberals and conservative Democrats on health care legislation are narrowing - and he hoped a deal could be reached within days.
"There has to be a public element to this," Feingold said on ABC's "This Week." "There can't be just a purely private approach. The talks are exciting; they are getting closer."
Feingold said he was "cautiously optimistic" a deal could be reached and that the deal would be " a package of ideas that will reflect the people in the room" and the public.
"We're going to meet until we get something hammered out," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said of a meeting planned for Sunday afternoon.
Reflecting on the moment, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said that Democrats should be able to get a bill done when they have a Democratic president and a pair of congressional majorities. "We've got to get this done in order to demonstrate we can get something this substantial done, even in a difficult economy and a difficult political environment," he said.
Reid doesn't have much wiggle room if he expects to finish the bill by Christmas.
Under the best-case scenario, Reid could reach a tentative deal on the public option during the first half of the week and send the revised plan to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate, which is likely to take several days.
Once he receives the estimate, Reid would seek firm commitments on votes, which he will want to lock in before taking the procedural steps necessary to cut off debate on the bill. Aides say the goal is to start taking those procedural steps by the end of this week.
Democrats would then need to hold together 60 senators on three procedural votes and three votes on the bill. The votes could unfold over a roughly nine-day period, ending just before the Christmas break.
Democrats remain seriously concerned about Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who is considered less likely by Senate aides to vote for the bill than are Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), whose interests align more closely with the caucus. As long as the public option is sufficiently tailored to their liking, Snowe and Lieberman can likely be persuaded, aides said.
Snowe met with Obama on Saturday, and the two discussed her "trigger" proposal, under which a public option would kick in if private insurers didn't adequately expand coverage. Snowe also met with moderate Democrats on the floor, and they plan to continue talks Monday. Snowe, however, is not part of the talks among Democratic liberals and moderates
Nelson is a tougher case. He has not only taken an uncompromising position on abortion, demanding stronger language to prohibit federal funding of abortion. He has also voted against every Democratic amendment so far, aside from those that received unanimous support from the body. Nelson's voting record on the bill suggests a general dislike for key aspects of it.
Nelson's position could become clearer after Monday's expected vote on his anti-abortion amendment. Nelson has said he will not compromise, but he also signaled Friday that he wouldn't do so until after the vote.
With Nelson as a wild card, the need to win over Snowe and Lieberman become all the more important -- and that means progressives will be asked to make serious concessions on the public plan.
Obama's visit comes ahead of a busy time in his schedule that could make another Capitol Hill visit difficult, with a pair of trips to Europe for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Copenhagen climate summit. Then he's scheduled to depart for Hawaii shortly before Christmas.
Despite repeated calls from lawmakers for more direction, Obama has picked his spots over the last 11 months. He has taken significant steps -- a visit to the Hill, a major speech, a private meeting at the White House -- only when he and his aides considered them necessary.
But given the decisions Reid needs to make in the coming days, Sunday may prove to be a pivotal moment.
Along with Obama and Biden were Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, senior adviser David Axelrod, health care "czar" Nancy-Ann DeParle, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and chief legislative liaison Phil Schiliro.
The only speakers, senators said after, were the president and Reid.
"We're really pretty much staying out," said Sebelius when asked if the administration would take a side on the negotiations over the public option. "The discussions are really among the members of the Senate."
Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) said Obama "said it would be the greatest legislation since FDR passed Social Security."
Lieberman, who is open to supporting the bill so long as it does not include a public option, noted that Obama didn't bring up the idea: "He didn't. I don't think he once talked about the public option. He didn't. That's what I'm saying. I thought it was interesting."
Reid, asked about the comment, responded, "the President didn't say a lot of things. Senator Lieberman said that to me after the meeting also, but that doesn't mean it's not an issue because the President didn't talk about it."
But Lieberman said even the benefits of health reform legislation wouldn't outweigh his concerns about a public option enough to vote for the bill if that provision stays in.
"No!" Lieberman told reporters. "That's exactly what I've been saying to my colleagues who are pushing for the public option. This bill has so much good in it, and it does so much good -- it's deficit neutral and all the rest. Why are you insisting on getting a foot in the door for single-payer?"
First Published December 7, 2009 12:00 am
