After Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee failed - not once but twice - to pass amendments inserting the controversial government-run public option insurance plan into Finance chairman Max Baucus‘ America’s Healthy Future Act, the fate of the public option - and quite possibly health care reform itself, now rests with Republican Olympia Snowe. Snowe’s trigger amendment now represents the last real chance to insert a public option into a Senate bill that stands any chance of passing on the Senate floor.
Short Title: Provision of Safety Net fallback plan to ensure access to affordable coverage
Description of Amendment: This amendment establishes a non-profit government corporation through which a “safety net” plan would be provided in any state in which affordable coverage was not available in the Exchange to at least 95% of state residents. An individual would be deemed to have affordable access if either of two conditions is met. First, two or more plans are offered with premiums – the cost of which does not exceed a specified percentage of the individual‘s adjusted gross income (AGI), after deducting any available tax credit or employer subsidy from the cost of such premium. The percentage contribution shall range from 3 percent of AGI at 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, to 13 percent at 300 percent and above.
Assessment of affordability shall follow submission of plan premiums filed one year in advance of the first day of each policy year, and should a state be found to not meet the 95% threshold, plans would be permitted to submit of any revised premium filings, after which a second assessment of affordability shall be performed. If, after that second assessment, a state still be deemed as not meeting the affordability standard, the safety net plan shall be offered within that state, and shall be available at the pending open season enrollment.
For weeks now, Snowe’s vote on reform has been the target of speculation and intense lobbying by Democrats including President Obama, but there is now renewed interest as to whether Snowe will decide to offer her trigger amendment as a means of ensuring Americans forced into an individual mandate can in fact afford health insurance. While the threat of a public option amendment loomed, Snowe’s trigger seemed like a potential life-saver for Republicans and a headache for Democrats. Those roles have been reversed in light of yesterday’s public option showdown in the Senate Finance Committee.
The question now is not only if but when Snowe might propose her trigger amendment.
I offered the trigger many months ago as an idea or alternative to the public option and I mentioned that to the President at that time. He didn’t reject it in the ensuing conversations I’ve had with him and with others. They indicated they would be flexible on that point. I think now the question is whether or not or at which to point to address that issue and I think we’ll have to determine whether or not it’s in the committee or on the floor and how we build a consensus at that point in addition to the other issues. (From Olympia Snowe sets the record straight on her health care positions on HealthCareHorseRace.com)
Should Snowe offer her amendment in Committee, it seems likely that she’d get no support from her Republican colleagues but should be able to enlist all of the Democrats who voted for the Schumer public option in addition to Baucus - who has said he favors a public option but will only support one that can get 60 votes on the Senate floor. The only questionable Democrats are Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad and Blanche Lincoln - who voted against both public option amendments offered yesterday.
While Snowe could therefore pass an amendment 12-11 in committee, Conrad’s vote is significant. As chairman of the powerful Senate Budget Committee, Conrad will play a central role in merging any bill that comes out of Finance with that already passed out of the late Ted Kennedy’s HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee. Winning Conrad over to the trigger option would go a long way towards ensuring the trigger and not a pure public option is the centerpiece of a bill voted on by the entirety of the Senate.
Of course, should the Baucus bill pass out of committee with its proposed cooperatives fully intact, Conrad and his committee would have to choose between cooperatives - something Republicans would clearly prefer - and Kennedy’s public option. If the Budget Committee bill included the public option, Snowe would have the opportunity to introduce the trigger amendment during a floor debate which would likely garner significant Republican support at the time.
Snowe is clearly in the drivers seat as the health care reform debate moves into its final weeks. The trigger concept has already garnered various degrees of support from key Democrat leaders including Obama, a begrudging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and even former president Bill Clinton. And, despite statements to the contrary, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be hard-pressed to come out swinging at the only public option that has any shot at making its way to Obama’s desk.
Tags: America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Blanche Lincoln, Chuck Schumer, cooperatives, Harry Reid, HELP Committee, Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, Nancy Pelosi, Olympia Snowe, public-option, Senate Budget Committee, Senate Finance Committee, Ted Kennedy, trigger
