The Brown Effect: Will The House Just Pass The Senate Health Bill? (Updated)

House Democratic leaders have been sparring with Senate Democratic leaders for weeks about issues such as income taxes, abortion funding, the size of subsidies, and health insurance exchange administration.

"There is enormous pressure now for House Democrats to cave on these issues and quickly pass the Senate-passed health care bill, which would send the legislation directly to the White House for the president's signature," CIAB analysts write.

It is rumored that the House and Senate later could "fix" H.R. 3950 through a Senate reconciliation process, the CIAB analysts write.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., seems to be open to the idea of passing H.R. 3950 now and trying to fix the bill later, the CIAB analysts report.

But rank-and-file Democrats in the House appear to be balking at White House demands that they pass the Senate health bill immediately, according to the CIAB analysts and other sources.

Catholic Bishops are lobbying House Democrats to oppose the Senate bill, and, "additionally, some progressive Democrats who support a public option are saying that they too would oppose the Senate bill," the CIAB analysts report.

Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House minority leader, has added to the pressure by putting out a statement emphasizing how divided the House Democrats are.

Insurance industry legislation experts also are watching to see how the views of Senator-elect Scott Brown might affect congressional efforts to pass a health bill.

Brown, a lawyer who has been serving in the Massachusetts state senate, has been a member of the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure.

Brown was not generally known for work on insurance-related issues while in the state senate, according to a Massachusetts insurance industry source.

In 2009, Brown did introduce a bill, S. 1025 , that could have given group health plan participants the right to get full drug plan coverage for name-brand drugs, and drugs outside the covered drug list, rather than generic drugs and drugs in a plan's "formulary," when the name-brand drugs or off-formulary drugs were medically necessary. The Massachusetts Legislature has not acted on the bill.

When former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney introduced that state's health reform plan, Brown supported the plan, but he "has been an outspoken opponent of the current plan being considered in Washington even though elements of it follow the Massachusetts model," the Massachusetts industry source says.

Brown has said that the "Democratic Washington health care plan" is too general and involves too many backroom deals. He says Congress should start over and consider the small-scale proposals offered by Republicans in Congress.

REACTIONS

President Obama talked about Brown's victory during an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News.

"Here's one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table: The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated," Obama said, according to a transcript provided by ABC. "People in Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process."

Democrats also have to move to clear up misconceptions about the health bill, Obama told Stephanopoulos.

- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will move to get Brown seated quickly.

"Some elections go your way, some elections go their way; it's the nature of democratic politics in a diverse nation," Reid said today on the Senate floor. "But regardless of their outcomes, as I've said many times, the American people demand that we work together as partners, not partisans, to improve their lives. That is as true after Republican victories as it is after Democratic victories." In the coming year, Reid said, "we will ensure all Americans can access affordable health care, deny insurance companies the ability to deny health care to the sick, and slash our deficit in the process."

"As we do all these things, we will continue to leave a seat at the table for our Republican colleagues," Reid said. "Whether their caucus comprises 40 or 41 members, each composes this body of 100. We should all be united within the walls of this esteemed chamber, not defined by the aisle that divides its desks…. By and large, those in the minority have so far shown far too little interest in working with us – more importantly, they have shown far too little interest in working in the interests of their constituents. I hope that in this new year they will resolve to leave their partisan, political motivations behind. I hope they will share our renewed motivation to get to work."

- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., mentioned Brown's victory in Washington, at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Washington.

Congress will take up health care, "heeding the particular concerns of the voters of Massachusetts last night," Pelosi said.

"We heard the people, and hopefully we will move forward with their considerations in mind," Pelosi said. "But we will move forward in the process."

- Sen. James Webb, D-Va., issued a statement congratulating Brown on his victory.

"In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process," Webb says in the statement. "It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated."

- House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, reported that House Democrats have rejected House Resolution 847, a measure introduced by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., that would have opened congressional health bill negotiations up to the public. "By voting to keep health care reform negotiations secret, Democrats are already showing they haven't learned the lessons of the Massachusetts special election," Boehner says in a statement. "Despite repeatedly promising these talks would be public and broadcast on C-SPAN, President Obama and Washington Democrats continue to keep the American people in the dark. These secret deliberations are a breeding ground for backroom deals and legislative landmines that end up not being discovered until it's too late."

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For a nostalgic peek at what health bill negotiations looked like before Tuesday, see Congress Revisits Health Reform Negotiations.

For a look at some of the proposals that House Republicans tried, and failed, to get into H.R. 3962, see Rules Panel Sends H.R. 3962 To Floor.