Bulletin Blog

Tracking the latest developments on health care

• CBO Sees Recipe For Reconciliation

  Without the inclusion of a student loan overhaul, the health care reconciliation bill would likely have been blocked in the Senate, an analysis of preliminary estimates from the Congressional Budget Office shows.

  The reconciliation procedure will allow Democrats to pass the critical final piece of health care reform through the Senate by 51 votes rather than the usual 60 votes needed to overcome filibusters. But the bill must save at least $2 billion over the next five years, under the rules for the reconciliation bill -- $1 billion for health care aspects under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee and $1 billion for health care and education provisions overseen by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

  The HELP Committee's health care provisions alone would have cost nearly $4 billion net over five years, preventing the use of reconciliation. Because the student loan overhaul on net saves $5 billion in the first five years, the $1 billion target for the HELP Committee required for the use of reconciliation is met, the CBO estimates show.

  "That's right," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, said, noting that the parliamentarian ruled that the provisions fell under one umbrella to meet the deficit reduction target. Senate Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg, R-N.H., confirmed the student loan money's pivotal role in the reconciliation bill. "In order to meet the reconciliation requirements because the health care is in deficit over the first five years, they're using student loan money to cover that deficit," Gregg said.

  Brian Friel | March 18, 2010 | 4:48 pm

• Updating The Health Care Whip Count

  The CBO score is in, and Dems expect to see a wave of new support for health care legislation. Privately, the party continues to express optimism over their chances. So why is it that the only announcements that have come...

  Hotline On Call | March 18, 2010 | 2:26 pm

• Dems' Health Care DileMMMa

  Hotline editor Amy Walter, a former aide to ex-Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky (D-PA), takes a look at the real choices Dems face when deciding their vote for or against health care legislation: As each side works to tweak and spin public...

  Hotline On Call | March 18, 2010 | 1:30 pm

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