House, Senate Leaders Prepare for Floor Debate

The long quest to reform the nation's health-care system entered uncharted legislative territory early Friday when a key Senate panel wrapped up work on its bill and House and Senate leaders prepared for historic floor debates.

The Senate Finance Committee, the fifth and final congressional panel to contribute to the legislation, dispensed with its last amendment at 2:08 a.m., sending President Obama's top domestic policy initiative to a threshold that has eluded presidents since Harry S. Truman. As the panel completed the measure that is expected to form the backbone of health-insurance reform legislation, a political consensus large enough to carry the plan to final passage appeared to emerge.

In a statement issued early Friday, Obama hailed the bill authored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, calling it "another milestone in our effort to pass health insurance reform." As a result of lawmakers' work, "we are now closer than ever before to finally passing reform that will offer security to those who have coverage and affordable insurance to those who don't," he said.

"We have a long way to go," Obama said, but he expressed confidence that Congress would pass a reform package "this year."

Baucus (D-Mont.) delayed a committee vote on the overall bill until next week, though he said he has enough support to pass the package out of committee. The bill, which Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) will merge with a Senate health committee measure, appears to meet the reform criteria Obama laid out last month in an address to Congress.

"We can all be very proud of what we have achieved here," Baucus said as the committee's work drew to a close, after churning through 564 amendments.

"This bill will lower taxes for more than 42 million Americans and reduce the federal deficit," he said in announcing the completion of work on the package. "This bill will protect Medicare benefits for seniors. This bill will significantly expand health coverage."

The battle lines for the remainder of the debate were clearly drawn during the committee's deliberations and centered on how the bill would affect the middle class.

Republicans on the panel said the measure was riddled with revenue provisions that would violate Obama's 2008 campaign promise not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans. "There are going to be a lot of people whose taxes are increased by this legislation," said Sen. Michael D. Crapo (R-Idaho).

Democrats said broad support for reform would drive the effort forward. "Every Democrat, from the most liberal to the most conservative, realizes that it serves America's interest and our own interest to pass a bill," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The Finance Committee's package seeks to dramatically reshape the health insurance system by improving coverage for those who have it and making it more affordable for the millions of Americans who do not. It would prohibit private insurers from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions and bar them from limiting benefits, either annually or over a lifetime.

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