Full Court Press for Health Care Reform
On March 2, President Obama wrote a letter to Congressional leadership regarding his thoughts on the bipartisan health care summit that took place February 25th. In it, he expressed his willingness to consider several Republican proposals made during the meeting in an effort to stay true to his promise to “draw on the best ideas from both parties.” This included support for an increase in reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers. However, he also highlighted the aspects of his proposal that he does not want to see compromised such as “reducing Medicare Advantage payments across the country relative to fee-for service Medicare in an equitable fashion…[and eliminating] the Nebraska FMAP provision, replacing it with additional federal financing to all states for the expansion of Medicaid.” The entire letter, including the Republican proposals Obama wants Congress to consider can be viewed by clicking here.
On March 3, President Obama made a speech, a transcript of which can be read here, reasserting his commitment to passing health care reform and urged Congress to schedule a vote on the issue within “the next few weeks.” During the speech the President laid out an aggressive timeline which, if followed, would finalize passage before Easter and the accompanying “Spring District Work Period” from March 29–April 9 when Members will head back to their Districts. On the following day, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that the President expects the House to finish its votes before a scheduled March 18th trip to Australia and Indonesia.
Noting that health care reform has already been debated by Congress, passed by the House with a majority and by the Senate with a supermajority of 60 votes, the President called for a final “up or down” vote on the floor. In reality, there would need to be two more votes, first a House vote on the final Senate bill and then a second vote on a package of negotiated issues to “fix” the Senate bill. House leaders noted that although they still have a great deal of work to accomplish, a vote on the Senate bill by March 18th could be accomplished. The Senate would then use the process of “reconciliation” to have one final vote on the second bill that would only need 51 votes to pass. It has become clear that no Republicans are willing to vote for the package so all of the final votes must be found among Democrats.
Reportedly, the White House has been delivering a strong final message to Democrats urging them not to switch their votes as the passage of health care reform is a once in a political lifetime opportunity. As a result of several resignations and the death of Representative John Murtha (D-PA), 217 votes are needed in the House to pass the reform. Of the remaining Democrats, 216 have voted for the House bill previously. Both progressive and conservative Members, however, have threatened to withhold their votes. Progressives expressed concern over the lack of a public option while conservatives expressed concern about the issue of abortion and the size and cost of the package. The President spent Thursday in meetings with Members of the House of both groups, seeking their votes. Press reports have cited Members of Congress saying that they believe the final votes will be found, while leadership has remained more cautious. Progressive organizations warned members not to take the final vote for granted.
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Publishes Annual Report
The Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) was published on March 5th. The report covers a variety of topics from the launch of the Act Against AIDS campaign to the development of an NCHHSTP strategic plan. The report can be viewed by clicking here.
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