Humbled Democrats prepared yesterday to dramatically scale back their unpopular health-care plans in light of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown’s shocking victory.
His upset denies the Democrats the 60 votes needed in the Senate to break a Republican filibuster and pass any new legislation without resorting to controversial parliamentary man euvers.
It’s also unlikely that the House of Representatives would simply pass the Senate health-care bill without revisions, because Democrats and labor leaders oppose some of the provisions.
For example, union bosses disagree with the 40 percent “Cadillac” excise tax on high-cost plans, because it would it would hit their members in their wallets.
President Obama said no action would be taken before Brown is seated.
Obama said he favored passing a slimmed-down, less-costly health-care bill following Tuesday night’s voter revolt.
“I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on,” Obama said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Obama said he still wanted to see “insurance reform” that bars HMOs from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions; tighter controls to rein in medical costs; and aid to help small businesses afford coverage for their workers.
Tellingly, Obama omitted the more controversial aspects — such as moving toward universal coverage by expanding the Medicaid rolls, forcing Americans to obtain insurance coverage, and cutting or raising taxes on Medicare benefits.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs admitted yesterday that the furor over health care contributed to Democrat Martha Coakley’s defeat in Massachusetts.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said Democrats will slow down on health care.
“The message from yesterday was heard. We are reassessing and re-examining, and we will take a deep breath and not rush to any decisions,” Schumer said.
However, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said she still wanted to pass an ambitious health-care bill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — unlike many other Democrats, suggested the Massachusetts result wouldn’t scuttle health care. “We will move forward with those considerations in mind — but we will move forward,” she said.