Health care continues to dominate most of the conversation on Capitol Hill this week following the U.S. House passage of the Senate Health Care bill Sunday night. The Senate health care bill is expected to be signed into law within a day or so -- or maybe by the time this article posts.
That means that the "gator special" authored by our Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is now the law of our country. This is the provision that allows Florida Medicare Advantage recipients to stay in the program when others elsewhere in the country must drop out. This provision will remain law unless Congress passes the reconciliation/correction bill designed to clean up the flaws contained in the new health care law.
This correction bill will dominate the floor of the Senate for the better part of this upcoming week and assuming this will be quick and clean is not sensible, especially if you are a student of history.
Having spent 26 years working on the Senate floor, I assisted in the Senate's consideration of 19 of the total 22 reconciliation bills ever to have passed the Senate. The process is sloppy, at best. During the Senate consideration of these 22 reconciliation bills, 95 points of order were raised on various provisions contained in the bills. All but 19 of these points of order resulted in changes made in the bills. This 80 percent success rate in changing bills is hard to ignore. These numbers do not even address the hundreds of amendments that have been considered, and adopted, when the Senate debated these reconciliation bills in the past.
When a point of order is raised, if 60 Senators do not vote to save the language, the results are a change in the bill. The offending provision that precipitated the point of order drops out of the bill. This is a change in the bill and automatically triggers further House action.
Meanwhile, the Senate health care bill is the law of the land. Remember, the Democrats in the Senate no longer have 60 members, with the election of Scott Brown, R-Mass. It is for this reason that Democratic leaders in Congress have resorted to using the reconciliation process to clean up the health care bill.
(Watch this video on how reconciliation will play out in the Senate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA-KKJxXbBQ)
It is not logical to think that 30 years of Senate history won't result in a change in the upcoming health care reconciliation/correction bill. Assuming changes are made, the House will have to consider the bill again with another vote(s) on health care. Meanwhile, the president can stay out of this bicameral battle; after all, the Senate health care bill is the law of the land.
Also this week:
House
HR 4849 - Small Business and infrastructure tax incentive bill.
Otherwise the House will remain in session awaiting Senate consideration of the Health Care correction bill.
White House
POTUS signs the Senate Health Care bill.
Senate
Monday evening: Final passage of the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Remainder of the week:
Senate consideration of the House passed Health care reconciliation/corrections bill. Time for debate is limited to 20 hours. After the 20 hours, a series of votes can be expected. This process is called a vote-a-rama.
The House and Senate have scheduled a two-week recess for the Easter holiday beginning no later than Friday, March 26. Each body is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, April 13. This recess could be canceled or postponed if problems arise in the Senate with the passage of the health care reconciliation/corrections bill.
Elizabeth B. Letchworth is a retired, four-times elected United States Senate Secretary for the Majority and Minority. She is the creator of GradeGov.com.
