Sen Baucus may be preparing to make amends by undoing some of the the disastrous ideas in his bill put in place in the name of bipartisanship.
TIME is reporting Max Baucus is Open to Changes in Health-Care Bill to Meet Democrats' Concerns. If Snowe opposes the bill, which is looking likely, Baucus can afford to lose no more than one Democrat. Kudos to progressive for piling on the pressure.
In an interview with TIME.com, he said the reaction he had gotten "feels like it's about right, because this is something that can pass. ... It's a sense of inevitability that [the bill] is pretty close to the mark here." But after a stormy closed-door session with his fellow Finance Committee Democrats, Baucus is sounding open to making some changes, even before he bangs the gavel for his first formal drafting session on Sept.
Baucus acknowledges the criticism he is getting from within his own party. "My assumption is the other person's view probably has more than a grain of truth," he says. The chairman told TIME.com that he hopes to iron out some of those differences in the coming days. Specifically, Baucus is talking to Democratic members of his committee about addressing one of their chief complaints about the bill — that it won't do enough to make insurance affordable to the middle class. -------------
Baucus also expressed some flexibility with regard to his proposal to impose a 35% excise tax on insurers who sell "gold-plated" insurance policies — a levy insurance companies say they would be forced to pass on to their customers. Under the bill as it is currently written, that tax would kick in on plans that cost more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families
But apparently he remains inflexible to the public option, he rather have the abominable "trigger" to get Snowe.
But one place where Baucus does not appear to be so flexible is on the question of adding a government-run "public option" to the measure as an alternative for providing coverage to the uninsured. ------------------------------ He did, however, say that one "live possibility" is the idea of adding a so-called "trigger" that would create a public plan if private insurance companies fail to do enough to bring down costs and make coverage available to enough Americans.
If Baucus agrees to merge the good parts of his bill with the HELP bill and HR 3200 - which contains a robust public option- for passage in the senate, then he should have no problem getting it out of committee in case Snowe decides to vote against.
TPM is also reporting that a new goal is a bill that can win each of the panel's Democrats plus, perhaps, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Looks like Baucus is still looking for a unicorn. Wonder why Dems are still wasting their time with Snowe.
"I think there's a view on the part of the chairman and on the part of just about everyone who was there to try and come up with a consensus that every Democrat, and perhaps Olympia Snowe, could support," after meeting with committee Democrats. "I would say, just about everyone in the room thought it's doable."
I hope Sen Rockefeller keeps the pressure on, No public option = No deal. Period.