WASHINGTON — Sen. Ben Nelson, who holds a pivotal vote, said he plans to offer an amendment to the health care bill that would mirror House-approved restrictions on federal funding for abortions.
“My Senate amendment would ban any public funds from paying for abortions under a new health care reform bill,” the Nebraska Democrat said Wednesday.
The amendment would be among dozens expected to be offered.
Nelson said he will vote to block the bill if the abortion language in the bill is not changed.
Democrats control 60 seats in the Senate, and that's the number needed to get through a promised Republican filibuster.
Anticipating the showdown, hundreds of abortion rights supporters rallied Wednesday on Capitol Hill, holding signs reading, “Listen up senators: Women's health is not negotiable.”
Several House Democrats spoke, vowing to oppose final passage of any health bill containing the tough abortion restrictions already approved by the House. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., called it “a devil's bargain” that she couldn't accept.
The House bill includes the Stupak-Pitts amendment, which would impose strict restrictions on abortion coverage. Women receiving federal subsidies couldn't buy a plan covering abortion, and the public option wouldn't provide abortion coverage.
The Senate bill would allow women to buy plans that cover abortion even if they receive federal aid, but it would require insurers to segregate public and private funds and use only private money to pay for abortions. Any public option could offer abortion coverage, as long as federal money wasn't used.
Supporters say that would keep government funds from being used for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman's life as allowed under a current law known as the Hyde amendment.
Abortion opponents say the bill offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would circumvent Hyde. For example, they say that any funds a government insurance plan would use to pay for abortion would be federal funds by definition — even if the money came from premiums paid by beneficiaries.
Nelson, citing a recent CNN poll indicating that a majority of Americans oppose federal funding for abortions, said his amendment would be as close to the Stupak amendment as possible.
Also Wednesday, Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., hosted a video teleconference to discuss proposed Medicare cuts with representatives of hospitals and home health providers in Nebraska.
Those in Nebraska talked about the difficulty of making ends meet under current Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates and said any cuts would further strain their budgets.
“You squeeze these folks and you will lose hospitals, you will lose hospice programs, you will have fewer nursing homes in Nebraska,” Johanns said in an interview. He said he's working on amendments.
Proponents of the bill say its more than $400 billion worth of cuts would result from eliminating inefficiency within Medicare and wouldn't significantly affect benefits for senior citizens.
But Johanns said the cuts are quite real and would hit rural areas especially hard.
Also this week, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he was preparing an amendment to require that senators and their staffs get their employer-based health insurance through the same exchanges that would be created for the rest of the country under the health care bill.
A Grassley amendment adopted by the Finance Committee in September would have established that requirement for all congressional staff members, along with members of Congress, but the requirement “ended up being carved out” of the Senate bill, he said Tuesday in a press release.
Grassley said he also would seek to expand the requirement to include the president, the vice president and all political appointees in the executive branch.
This report includes material from the Associated Press.
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202-662-7270, joe.morton@owh.com
