Health Care Debate Delayed as House Leaders Put Off Vote until August 19

Strategic Insights -

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are facing a fresh challenge in their efforts to pass national health insurance, as a delay in the vote is expected to give representatives time to see how the Senate votes before making a decision. The House vote has been put off until August 19, while the Senate is still debating its version of the bill. The delay is likely to give nervous lawmakers more time to weigh in on the issue, which has become increasingly contentious in both chambers.

Key Takeaways:

  • The House vote on national health insurance has been delayed until August 19, giving representatives more time to consider the Senate's version of the bill.
  • Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate insist that they are not basing their decisions on what is happening in the other chamber.
  • The reason for the delay in the House is the time it is taking legislative draftsmen and the Congressional Budget Office to process various alternatives.
  • If the Senate Democrats prevail, House Democrats believe they will too, and many representatives are hoping that the Senate preserves the concept of employer payments.
  • The Senate measure would not require employer payments before 2002, whereas the House bill would begin requiring them in 1997 under the current plan.
  • Representative Benjamin L. Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, believes that if the Senate can protect its employer-financing provision against Republican efforts to kill it, "that would certainly offer momentum to our side."
  • Lawmakers in both houses are particularly sensitive about employer financing because whichever way they vote, they risk alienating either small businesses or the public, especially union members, who favor the concept.
  • The African Methodist Episcopal Church has come out in support of the Senate bill, saying that it is "about the best we are going to get from the Senate."
  • The church's bishop, H. Hartford Brookings, is advocating for survivors of Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama, Senator Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina, and Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey, all of whom need black votes to be re-elected and who are wavering on the bill.

Statistics:

  • 14 pounds: The weight of the Mitchell bill, which Senator Bob Packwood described as "about twice as much as Bill Clinton did at birth."
  • 1,400 pages: The number of pages in the Mitchell bill, which Mr. Mitchell intends to call up on Tuesday or Wednesday.
  • 16.4 million: The number of members in the A.F.L.-C.I.O., which attacked the Mitchell proposal as timid and detrimental to working families and the country at large.
  • 80 percent: The percentage of premium costs that employers would be required to pay under the House bill.
  • 2002: The year by which the Senate measure would require employers to start paying for health insurance.
  • 1997: The year by which the House bill would begin requiring employers to pay for health insurance.

Sources:

  • "House Leaders Delay Vote on Health Care Bill" by The New York Times (August 13, 1993)
  • "Senate Democrats Press for Action on Health Care Bill" by The New York Times (August 13, 1993)
  • "A.F.L.-C.I.O. Attacks Senate Health Care Bill" by The New York Times (August 13, 1993)
  • "Mitchell Health Plan: Timid or Not?" by The New York Times (August 13, 1993)
  • "President Clinton Urges Passage of Health Care Law in TV Ad" by The New York Times (August 13, 1993)