Getting to 60 Votes in the Senate

According to news reports, last night the 58 Democrats in the Senate held a closed door meeting with the two independent members of their caucus, Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman, in an attempt to reach a consensus on the healthcare reform bill. To secure Joe Lieberman’s support and apparently reach the 60 votes required to avoid a filibuster, the Democrats had to scrap a compromise deal reached last week on a limited expansion of Medicare to some individuals in the 55-65 age group and a private-sector approach to the public option.

From the start, some conservative Democrats had been opposed to the so-called “public option,” in which a government-run health plan would compete in the new-created insurance exchanges with private insurance companies in offering health insurance plans to individuals and small businesses. Last week, a group of Senate Democrats worked out a compromise in which, in lieu of a government-run plan, the White House Office of Personnel Management would oversee national health plans offered by private insurance companies, much like the current health insurance benefits for federal employees. In addition, certain beneficiaries in the 55-65 age group would be able to enroll in Medicare, although their premiums would not necessarily be subsidized.

Over the weekend, however, Joe Lieberman indicated that he would not be willing to support such an expansion of Medicare, leaving the Democrats without enough votes to avoid a filibuster. To win Senator Lieberman’s support, Senate Democrats apparently were willing to drop the public plan completely, including the previous compromise reached over the limited Medicare expansion. While there are still some hurdles to overcome, it appears that the Democrats now have the 60 votes they need to pass a bill in the Senate before Christmas. It would then be up to a Conference Committee to reconcile the House and Senate bills into a final bill for next month.