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DECEMBER 19, 2009, 11:30 A.M. ET
By GREG HITT, PATRICK YOEST and JANET ADAMY
WASHINGTON-
Wall Street Journal
-Senate Democratic leaders said Saturday morning they have secured the 60 votes needed to ensure passage of health overhaul legislation after reaching agreement with Sen. Ben Nelson to address his concerns with the bill's handling of abortion.
"Every Democrat realized...we had to get it done," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat who helped broker the final deal.
Sen. Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, told reporters Saturday he intends to vote for the legislation.
Associated Press
Sen. Ben Nelson, shown on Capitol Hill this week, gives the health overhaul legislation its pivotal 60th vote.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid held a series of meetings with Mr. Nelson lasting late into Friday night, as a snowstorm rolled into Washington and started dumping what was expected to be more than a foot of snow on the capital.
Democrats released Saturday a broader amendment to the bill, which includes proposals designed to boost support for small businesses, toughen federal regulatory oversight of insurers, and strengthen provisions intended to curb the rapid growth of health care costs.
Lawmakers were awaiting a formal estimate of the bill's cost from the Congressional Budget Office. An estimate of an earlier version by the CBO found that the bill would reduce the budget deficit by $130 billion over the next decade and extend coverage to some 30 million Americans.
Congressional aides said those numbers will remain similar after the changes. Republicans say the numbers are unrealistic, and they call the new programs in the bill too expensive. Among other things, the legislation includes a expansion of Medicaid, the federal state health program for the poor, and new tax subsidies to help low- and middle-income Americans purchase insurance.
In the final dealing, Mr. Nelson won a tightening of rules designed to ensure federal funds aren't used to finance insurance coverage of abortion procedures. He also secured a limited exemption for nonprofits from a proposed tax on the insurance industry, congressional aides said. Under the proposal, only nonprofits that devote a high percentage of revenue to spending on health services would be exempt from the levy.
Mr. Reid convened an early morning caucus Saturday to discuss the developments.
Congressional aides said the Senate was likely headed to a vote Monday, possibly at 1 a.m., on a pivotal motion to close off debate on the health bill. The vote will be the first true test of whether Mr. Reid has all 58 Senate Democrats, as well as the two independents who sit with the majority, behind the White House-backed health initiative.
Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Friday was "a day of long, hard negotiations."
Senate Democratic leaders had been pushing for a resolution of Mr. Nelson's concerns by Saturday in their bid to get a final vote on the health bill by Christmas.
Mr. Nelson sought language similar to that in a House-passed version of health-care legislation that effectively bars people who receive government subsidies to buy insurance from enrolling in any insurance plan that covers abortion.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D., Calif.) attended meetings with Mr. Reid Friday on behalf of abortion-rights Democrats.
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said Republicans may ask for the manager's amendment, expected to run into the hundreds of pages, to be read aloud in full on the Senate floor, as is permitted under Senate rules.
"I don't think it would be outrageous to ask for a bill to be read that we haven't seen, that affects one-seventh of our gross national product," Mr. McCain told reporters Friday.
If Republicans insist upon the amendment's reading and don't give Democrats consent to speed up votes on the procedural motions, a final vote on the bill could take place on Christmas Eve.
Saturday found Washington buried in one of its biggest December snowfalls in history. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) suggested Friday senators might be "sitting around the fireplaces in the marble rooms singing 'Jingle Bells.' "
Liberals have expressed unease at Mr. Reid's frequent concessions to centrist senators such as Mr. Nelson.
Capping a week of growing complaints from liberal groups, MoveOn.org on Friday asked its five million members to sign a petition opposing the Senate bill. The group is frustrated that Democratic leaders stripped a public health-insurance plan.
But White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel pooh-poohed talk that some liberals might vote against the bill. The White House has made the calculation that the liberals will swallow the concessions because they have learned from past failures not to pass up the chance to create near-universal health insurance.
"There are no liberals left to get" in the Senate, Mr. Emanuel said in an interview.
For Democrats, any delay would be perilous. Letting the legislation slip beyond holidays would risk losing what little momentum the bill still has, and it would complicate White House plans to turn the Washington agenda toward the economy and deficit reduction, issues more in tune with voter concerns.
Write to Greg Hitt at greg.hitt@wsj.com, Patrick Yoest at patrick.yoest@dowjones.com and Janet Adamy at janet.adamy@wsj.com
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