Orange County Register

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., will vote yes health bill debate.

Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu just announced she’s going to vote later today to allow Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health care reform bill to move to a formal debate.

That means the Democrats now need just one more lawmakers—Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln to vote yes that the historic debate will begin.

“My vote today to move forward on this important debate should in no way be construed by the supporters of this current framework as an indication as how I might vote as this debate comes to an end,’’ said Landrieu, who is facing a tough re-election campaign. She said her vote was a decision “to move forward and continue the good and essential and important and imperative work that is underway.’’

Today’s vote to allow Reid’s $848 billion bill to come to the floor could make or break a signature issue for the Democrats and President Barack Obama. Not one Republican is expected to allow debate to start.

Reid needs 60 votes because of the rules of the Senate that govern the ways bill are brought to the floor. And he’ll need 60 votes to get a final vote on the bill, something Obama would like to see done by the end of the year.

Lincoln, who was an iffy vote in the Senate Finance Committee’s deliberations to send its version of a bill to the floor, is also locked in a tough re-election battle in a conservative state where polls show constituents oppose the Democrats’ approach to health care.

Lincoln is expected to come to the floor later today to say how she will vote. The Senate is scheduled to vote at 5 p.m. today.

Landrieu said she wants better subsidies for small businesses in the bill and supports a so-called trigger for the public option. That is also the preference of Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, the only GOP lawmaker Democrats believe may vote for the bill.

Under the trigger, the public option would be implemented only in states where the private sector has failed to provide an affordable insurance plan.

Here’s a recap of what the two sides said yesterday about the health bill.
Democrats say their will has changes such as removing pre-existing condition as an impediment to health insurance, bans on health insurers dropping people who get sick, allowing parents to insure their children under age 26, creating an insurance exchange with a public option for people who have no other way to get insurance and more coverage for preventative care.

But Republicans say Democrats aren’t being straight about the costs. They have been on the Senate floor today saying the ill will cost trillions in the next decade, raise premiums and that the mandates in the bill will lead small businesses to either cut workers or refuse to give raises because it ill mean increased costs. And GOP lawmakers also say that the measure will lead to cuts in services for the nation’s Medicare recipients.

More on health reform

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