Health debate heats up in Congress

The Senate Finance Committee debates changes to the health care reform plan, while 10 freshman Senators team-up to urge their colleagues to support the reform effort.

After weeks of town hall arguments over the summer, the Senate Finance Committee is finally starting the real debate over health care reform.

After two days of committee hearings there’s little progress on the senate bill to overhaul health care.  Wednesday’s debate centered on Republican amendments to the 774-billion-dollar plan that could limit the bill’s changes to medicare and an another that would require the bill to be released to the public before a vote.  The effort to release the language of the bill to the public ahead of the vote was narrowly defeated.

Meanwhile, ten freshman democratic senators, including Delaware’s Ted Kaufman, took to the senate floor to continue the push for reform.  “We have to act so that Americans no longer have to worry about how they’re going to afford their medical bills.  We need to pass health reform to give Americans more stability in these rough economic times.  So they no longer have to choose between paying their medical bills or paying their home mortgages or their children’s tuition payments.”

Senator Max Baucus hopes to move his reform plan out of committee by the end of the week.