The Senate nudged its health bill toward tighter restrictions on abortion coverage, a change that left advocates on both sides of the issue unsatisfied. Under a deal with Sen. Ben Nelson, women who receive a new tax credit to buy insurance would write a separate check with their own money for abortion coverage, and states would explicitly have the option of barring such coverage from plans sold on new insurance exchanges. However, the language is less sweeping than that adopted by the House in November, which abortion-rights groups interpreted as the most significant setback in Congress for their cause in many years. As it did in the House, abortion threatened to sink the healthcare bill at the last minute in the Senate. Nelson, an antiabortion Democrat, vowed to withhold his vote unless the bill included more stringent requirements to ensure no federal money goes toward paying for abortion. The debate centered around the insurance exchanges, where people who don't have coverage elsewhere will be able to comparison-shop for plans. The House language prohibits anyone who gets a tax credit from enrolling in a policy that covers abortion. The Senate would allow states in effect to match that restriction if they choose, but in other states the Senate language wouldn't be as restrictive. It says women can get the coverage if they write two checks to their insurer, one for abortion and one for everything else. The change in the Senate bill is expected to be adopted this week.
Nasty charges of bribery. Senators cut off midspeech. Accusations of politics put over patriotism. Talk of double-crosses. A nonagenarian forced to the floor after midnight for multiple procedural votes. In the heart of the holiday season, Senate Republicans and Democrats are at one another's throats as the healthcare overhaul reaches its climactic votes. A year that began with hopes of new post-partisanship has indeed produced change: Things have gotten worse. Enmity and acrimony are coursing through a debate with tremendous consequences for both sides as well as for the legislative agenda in the months ahead. The toxic atmosphere is evident on the floor, on television talk shows, and in the hallways of the Capitol. Despite the fact that Democrats appear to have the 60 votes in hand to push through their legislation, Republicans say they intend to force a series of six procedural showdowns that would keep the Senate in session right through Christmas Eve.
Buried in the deal-clinching healthcare package that Senate Democrats unveiled over the weekend is an inconspicuous proposal expanding Medicare to cover certain victims of "environmental health hazards." The intended beneficiaries are identified in a cryptic, mysterious way: individuals exposed to environmental health hazards recognized as a public health emergency in a declaration issued by the federal government on June 17. And who might those individuals be? It turns out they are people exposed to asbestos from a vermiculite mine in Libby, MT. For a decade, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, has been trying to get the government to help them. He is in a position to deliver now because he is chairman of the Finance Committee and a principal author of the healthcare bill.
It is no accident that three of Louisiana's best-known politicians have been at the center of the national healthcare debate. Last month, Anh Cao, the congressman who represents New Orleans, created a ruckus as the sole Republican to vote for the healthcare bill in the House. Shortly afterward, Senator Mary L. Landrieu, a Democrat, became a crucial vote in support of healthcare after winning $300 million in Medicaid aid for Louisiana, drawing loud criticism from Republicans for her deal-making. And the governor, Bobby Jindal, a former state secretary of health, has been one of the most prominent Republicans to offer an alternative proposal for a healthcare overhaul. Because of the unique way it delivers healthcare to the poor, a model that has a long history, Louisiana has a great deal at stake in the outcome of the debate in Washington, which could drastically alter the state's traditional system. Especially in light of the state's desperate need for investments in medical care in the years since Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana politicians of both parties are scrambling to make sure their priorities are addressed in the legislation.
Nearly 1 in 100 American 8-year-olds struggle with autism, Asperger's syndrome or a related developmental problem, according to a new study. The estimate is the highest to date of so-called autism spectrum disorders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks health trends. The spectrum includes a range of disorders, from severe autism to milder forms like Asperger's to "pervasive developmental disorder," a nonspecific diagnosis given to many children with social difficulties or some kinds of learning and sensory problems. The finding is based on an analysis of medical and school records of some 400,000 children around the country; the researchers did not meet or interview the children. Prevalence estimates for these disorders have increased so sharply in recent years—to 1 in 150 in 2007, from 1 in 300 in the early 2000s—that scientists have debated whether in fact the disorder is more common, or diagnosed more often as a result of higher awareness.
Thirty million people without health insurance stand to gain coverage under a deal announced on Saturday by Senate Democrats. To get the 60 votes needed to pass their bill, Democrats scrapped the idea of a government-run public insurance plan, cherished by liberals, and replaced it with a proposal for nationwide health plans, which would be offered by private insurers under contract with the government. The legislation also includes a proposal that would limit insurance coverage of abortion. The provision, which was the last piece of the puzzle to fall into place, was negotiated by the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, to win the support of Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, who is an opponent of abortion. Under the agreement, states could choose to prohibit abortion coverage in the insurance markets, or exchanges, where most health plans would be sold. But if a health plan did cover the procedure, subscribers would have to make two separate monthly premium payments: one for all insurance coverage except abortion and one for abortion coverage.