Debate has begun on the Senate's health care bill and the first proposed amendments have been introduced. As reported in the Washington Post,
The initial amendments offered illustrated the legislation's vast scope and lingering vulnerabilities. The first, co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), would increase preventative health care for women at a 10-year cost of $940 million. One aim of the measure is to blunt concerns raised last month when an independent commission recommended that women undergo mammograms less frequently. The second amendment, authored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), would strip out the bill's primary revenue source, nearly $500 billion in Medicare cost savings. Although AARP and other seniors groups have said otherwise, Republicans are attacking the cuts as a threat that could eventually shorten lives.
The debate over the Medicare amendment was especially heated, reports the Wall Street Journal:
A Republican senator asserted Tuesday during a rancorous floor debate that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will shorten the lives of America's seniors by cutting Medicare.
"I have a message for you: You're going to die sooner," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., an obstetrician-turned-lawmaker.
A senior Democrat decried such comments as scare tactics designed to kill legislation that he said would improve some benefits for seniors. At times, the debate recalled the raw charges and countercharges of the summer's town hall meetings.
Other likely targets of amendments are provisions in the bill related to abortion and illegal immigrants.
The Washington Post reported that in spite of the contentious debate on the Medicare amendment, Democrats were increasingly optimistic that they would succeed in passing a bill before Christmas. The Wall Street Journal took a more pessimistic tone, reporting that the " legislative struggle is expected to last for weeks in a test that pits GOP senators determined not to give ground against Senate Democrats intent on delivering on Obama's signature issue. "
Read the full Washington Post story here and the full Wall Street Journal story here.
