Senate Democrats Unveil a 2,074 Page-Long Health Care Bill as the Democratic Leadership Expresses Optimism
that it Can Overcome GOP Procedural Obstacles

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has unveiled a 2,074 page-long health care reform bill that he spent nearly a month putting together.  The Majority Leader unveiled the measure to the public on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, after holding a special, 5:00 pm meeting of the Senate Democratic Caucus.  The Majority Leader formally moved on Thursday, November 19, that the Senate proceed to consideration of the measure (this motion is popularly referred to as a "motion to proceed").  Immediately thereafter, the Majority Leader filed a cloture petition to shut off debate on the motion to proceed.  The Majority Leader's actions on Thursday sets up a key procedural vote for 8:00 pm on Saturday, November 21, with at least one more critically important procedural vote possible within 30 hours after that.  The Majority Leader has expressed increasing levels of optimism that he will be able to muster the 60 votes that will be necessary to bring his health care reform bill before the full Senate.   If successful, this weekend's votes would pave the way for Senate consideration of its health care reform bill throughout most of December. 

The Reid health care reform bill contains a number of provisions relating to immigrants' access to health insurance.  The measure's immigration-related provisions are substantially similar to those that were contained in the Senate Finance Committee's health care reform bill.  However, there are some changes around the edges.

As was the case with the Senate Finance Committee bill, the Reid bill would exempt persons who are not lawfully present in the United States from the measure's general mandate that virtually everyone living lawfully in the United be covered by a qualified health insurance plan or face tax penalties for failure to comply.  The Reid bill also mirrors the Finance Committee bill's provision that would make legal immigrants eligible for health care affordability tax credits without regard to a waiting period.  And although there is a slight change in the phraseology, the Reid bill generally would bar aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States from using their own funds to purchase health insurance products that are listed on the Health Insurance Exchange that the bill would create.  The Reid bill would establish a new citizenship and immigration status verification regime that would exist in order to ensure that persons who are not lawfully present in the United States do not receive health insurance products and benefits from which they are barred.  It would rely on the recently enacted Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorization bill's mechanism for verification.  It would subject everyone who purchases health insurance through the exchange, benefits from an exchange plan, or receives an affordability tax credit, to a citizenship and immigration status verification using the new regime.

In addition to the immigration provisions that are included in the Reid bill, it is anticipated that the bill will become the target of a number of  floor amendments that would further restrict immigrants' access to health insurance.

From a procedural perspective, Majority Leader Reid has chosen H.R. 3590, a shell House-passed bill, as the vehicle by which he will attempt to put the his health care reform bill before the Senate.  While he will need 60 votes to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to consideration of H.R. 3590, he will only need 51 votes in order for the motion to succeed, assuming all 100 senators are present and voting.

Under the most optimistic scenario, if Majority Leader Reid moves that the Senate proceed to consideration of the health care reform bill on Thursday, November 19, and he simultaneously files a "cloture petition" to shut off debate on the "motion to proceed", the Senate would vote on invoking cloture on that motion on Saturday, November 21.  If the Majority Leader secures the requisite 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on the "motion to proceed", it could vote as soon as Sunday, November 22, or Monday, November 23.  The Senate Democratic Leadership has hinted that if the Majority Leader successfully navigates the Senate to the point where it is actually considering the bill, the Senate would stand in adjournment next week and resume considering the bill in December.

As this week began, it seemed unlikely that the Senate would actually consider the health care bill this week. This  was, in part, because at least four Democratic senators (Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA),  Ben Nelson (D-NE), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Ron Wyden (D-OR)) were thought to be considering voting against invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill.  Given the partisan makeup of the Senate and the unlikelihood that any of the Senate's 40 Republicans will vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill, the Majority Leader will need the votes of all 60 sitting Democrats, including the four waivering Democrats, in order to prevail and bring the bill before the full Senate. By the end of Wednesday, however, it was looking more and more likely that the Majority Leader might prevail on the attempt to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to consideration of the health care reform bill.

RELATED DOCUMENTS:

Text of the Reid Health Care Reform Bill
Preliminary Analysis of the Immigration Provisions in the Reid Health Care Reform Billl
Summary of the Reid Health Care Reform Bill (Prepared by Senate Democratic Staff) 
 

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