Wyden votes for health care bill, but vows to keep pushing to change it

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Wyden votes for health care bill, but vows to keep pushing to change it

WASHINGTON – In one of the more closely watched decisions of his career, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden voted in favor of health care legislation on Tuesday that he largely dislikes, offering critical support for a bill he has sharply -- and repeatedly -- criticized for weeks.

And in return for a vote that thrilled Democratic leaders and President Obama, Wyden got... a colloquy.

A what?

A colloquy is a fancy word for a quaint Senate tradition in which two lawmakers recite a carefully written and closely vetted script, designed to clarify motives, policy choices and future actions.

In everyday America, it doesn't sound like much. But in the Senate, words on paper and those spoken in public can be a valuable commodity. So Wyden declared victory, even though he got no promises that any of his priorities will ultimately make it into legislation. With his yes vote, he won a tiny opening for his ideas, and he isn't giving up.

Until Tuesday, Baucus aggressively rejected Wyden's approach, which would have given workers the power to shop for health insurance on their own in a national exchange instead of relying on choices provided by their employers.

Wyden has argued that without full-scale competition and multiple policy choices, health care costs will keep going up. Labor unions hated his idea, as did many businesses. So did Democratic leaders and the White House. All said it would destabilize the insurance system.

Wyden has refused to relent, and on Tuesday, Baucus offered the statement that gives Wyden the slim chance that he hopes to exploit as the bill moves to the Senate floor later this month.

"I, too, believe in choice," Baucus said, "and I believe the most recent version of your proposal could help achieve our mutual goals of ensuring affordable coverage for all Americans and injecting competition into the health care system."

"We need to be sure that the proposal achieves our goals without unexpected consequences," Baucus continued, "but I believe it is a promising approach that could be included in the health reform bill that the Senate takes up. I look forward to working with you on this proposal."

It wasn't a full-throated endorsement. But it was enough for Wyden.

"Obviously there is a long way to go, but it's a start," Wyden said after the committee vote. "We got our foot in the door and we have two more opportunities."

Wyden's decision was one of the last unanswered issues surrounding landmark legislation written by Baucus and widely seen as the best prospect for earning some Republican support. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine was the lone Republican to vote for the bill as it passed the Finance Committee on a 14-9 vote.

Like Wyden, Snowe expressed reservations. But the vote gave the legislation a comfortable cushion as it moves to the Senate floor.

Wyden will still be considered a wild card along with Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. Neither is happy with the Baucus bill and neither has hesitated to express those concerns.

The bill approved by the Finance Committee Tuesday is "not the best we can do, not by a long shot, Rockefeller said. "This bill falls far short of what people need and what people expect from us."

Rockefeller and Wyden were the two Democrats who most worried party leaders and the White House.

Wyden indicated early on Tuesday that some of his concerns had been smoothed during a series of meetings over the weekend with Baucus. That, along with heavy pressure from the White House and Democratic leadership, led Wyden to say he would vote for the bill despite complaints.

Baucus' 10-year plan would, for the first time, require all Americans to purchase insurance. It also aims to hold down spiraling medical costs over the long term.

Wyden made it clear he will work to add language that would give workers much greater freedom in how they shop for and receive health insurance. He acknowledged that his original proposal is doomed, but he will pursue a scaled down version of the same concept. That is where Baucus' words Tuesday could help, he said.

"Yes, (Baucus) said he would work with us to get it into the merger. That's what he said...in the colloquy."

Like Baucus, however, Wyden wasn't making hard promises.

Instead, with many more weeks of debate and negotiation, Wyden said he "absolutely" subscribes to a position voiced by Snowe. "My vote today is my vote today," she said. "It doesn't forecast what my vote will be tomorrow."

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.s..._care_bi_1.html

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

[Ban Hammer 14,791]