Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont) told the National Press Club on Friday that he will temporarily halt debate on the controversial proposal to create a government-run health plan in order to build momentum on other aspects of healthcare reform, reports The Hill. Democrats and organized labor favor a public plan option, but Republicans and health insurers say that private insurers will leave the market because they’ll be unable to compete with a public plan. President Obama supports a public health plan, but he has also stated that he would abandon that idea if the private market could create affordable health insurance that also reduces healthcare costs.
Democrats were handed a victory, however, after Congressional leaders reached an accord with President Obama that healthcare legislation would be protected from a Republican filibuster through the use of the reconciliation procedure, reports The New York Times. The tentative budget agreement reached late last week includes a provision that healthcare legislation can pass by a simple Senate majority instead of the 60 Senate votes normally required for major bills. But the procedure can’t be employed until October 15, allowing ample time for negotiations on the bill, according to Democratic lawmakers. Baucus, however, indicated that he opposed the process for healthcare reform, saying, “If we jam something down somebody’s throat, it’s not sustainable.”
