Senators Strike Health Deal
WASHINGTON -- Senior Senate Democrats reached tentative agreement Tuesday night to abandon the government-run insurance plan in their health-overhaul bill and to expand Medicare coverage to some people ages 55 to 64, clearing the most significant hurdle so far in getting a bill that can pass Congress.
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Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) said expanding Medicare "is putting more people in a boat that's already sinking."
The American Medical Association said it opposes expanding Medicare because doctors face steep pay cuts under the program and many Medicare patients are struggling to find a doctor. Hospitals also said expanding Medicare and Medicaid is a bad idea.
"We want coverage -- in the worst way -- expanded, but both of these means are problematic for hospitals and physicians," said Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, which lobbies on behalf of for-profit hospitals. "It's going to make it difficult to make it work."
After more than a week of debate on the Senate floor, Mr. Reid was working hard to unify his 60-member caucus, which includes 58 Democrats and two independents. A handful of moderate Democrats as well as Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, signaled concerns with the government-run plan, threatening to derail the broader bill. [...]
How can they even talk about expanding a failing program, without fixing the program first? Unless it's their intention to create even more chaos when Medicare fails. Are they deliberately creating an even larger crisis, so they can then claim "emergency" powers and push through something even worse?
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