Spring Break
Cost a major issue as Senate starts health care
Erica Werner - The Associated Press
Issue date: 6/17/09 Section: News
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats on Wednesday took the first major step toward a sweeping overhaul of the health care system in over a decade, pushing legislation despite strenuous GOP opposition and uncertainty about its provisions and costs.
"This is about as historic as it gets for all of us," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who is overseeing the proceedings in place of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is battling brain cancer.
"No issue is more of a moral imperative," Dodd said. "In the richest nation on the face of this Earth, you shouldn't have to be well-off to get well."
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee began work on a bill encompassing President Barack Obama's legislative priority. The effort marked the first time since President Bill Clinton's administration in the early 1990s that Congress was tackling such a broad overhaul.
High costs, uneven health care and nearly 50 million Americans uninsured have created the strongest political momentum for remaking the system in decades.
The Senate measure would cost about $1 trillion over 10 years, but leave 37 million people uninsured, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., last year's GOP presidential nominee, questioned how the committee could move ahead on legislation without hard figures on cost.
"How can we possibly, reasonably address this bill ... without accounting how to pay for it?" McCain asked at the start of the committee's session. McCain said it was "a joke if we run through this stack of papers."
Dodd answered that the budget office had provided numbers on some elements and the committee would produce legislation that will be paid for.
But the committee was forced to delay work on its bill after getting initial high cost estimates of $1.6 trillion. Committee aides said the delays make it likely that the panel won't be able to deliberate on its bill until after Congress' July 4th recess.
"This is about as historic as it gets for all of us," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who is overseeing the proceedings in place of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is battling brain cancer.
"No issue is more of a moral imperative," Dodd said. "In the richest nation on the face of this Earth, you shouldn't have to be well-off to get well."
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee began work on a bill encompassing President Barack Obama's legislative priority. The effort marked the first time since President Bill Clinton's administration in the early 1990s that Congress was tackling such a broad overhaul.
High costs, uneven health care and nearly 50 million Americans uninsured have created the strongest political momentum for remaking the system in decades.
The Senate measure would cost about $1 trillion over 10 years, but leave 37 million people uninsured, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., last year's GOP presidential nominee, questioned how the committee could move ahead on legislation without hard figures on cost.
"How can we possibly, reasonably address this bill ... without accounting how to pay for it?" McCain asked at the start of the committee's session. McCain said it was "a joke if we run through this stack of papers."
Dodd answered that the budget office had provided numbers on some elements and the committee would produce legislation that will be paid for.
But the committee was forced to delay work on its bill after getting initial high cost estimates of $1.6 trillion. Committee aides said the delays make it likely that the panel won't be able to deliberate on its bill until after Congress' July 4th recess.
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