Senate Casts First Vote on National Health Insurance Legislation

In a breakthrough moment, the Senate has cast its first vote on national health insurance legislation, with Democrats claiming an important success. The 55-to-42 vote approved an amendment requiring private health insurance plans to offer coverage of care for infants, children, and pregnant women by next July 1. This move has foretold partisan turmoil to come, with only two Republicans supporting the amendment and one Democrat voting against it.

Key Takeaways:

• The Senate has taken its first vote on national health insurance legislation, with a 55-to-42 approval of an amendment requiring private health insurance plans to offer coverage of care for infants, children, and pregnant women by next July 1.
• The vote was almost a straight party-line decision, with only two Republicans, Senators James M. Jeffords of Vermont and William V. Roth of Delaware, supporting the amendment, and one Democrat, Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, voting against it.
• A bipartisan group of senators, known as the "mainstream coalition," is working on a proposal that would change the bill to make it less bureaucratic, less tolerant of litigation, and more cost-sensitive.
• The mainstream coalition's proposals aim to present a compromise to the author of the Senate bill, George J. Mitchell, the majority leader, on Wednesday.
• The Mitchell legislation envisions a standard benefits package for all health insurance policies, enabling customers to compare them on the basis of price alone, a basic element of the theory of managed competition.
• The Republican opposition to the Mitchell bill may be measured tactically, with Senator Phil Gramm announcing plans to offer a "hell of a lot of amendments" to "knock the bad parts out of it."

Statistics:

• 55: The number of senators who voted in favor of the amendment requiring private health insurance plans to offer coverage of care for infants, children, and pregnant women by next July 1.
• 42: The number of senators who voted against the amendment.
• 85: The current percentage of the nation with health insurance coverage.
• 95: The goal percentage of the nation with health insurance coverage by the year 2000.
• 2000: The projected year when the nation aims to achieve 95% health insurance coverage.
• 51: The number of people who have lost health insurance since the Senate began its debate a week ago, according to the Families USA group.

Sources:

• The New York Times, "Diary: Health Care Developments," pg. A16.
• The New York Times, "Senate Casts First Vote on National Health Insurance Legislation," pg. A16.
• The New York Times, "White House," pg. A16.
• The New York Times, "Lobbying," pg. A16.