Tax News

CCH (cch.taxgroup.com) reports:

  Following a White House meeting with President Obama, Sen.Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said it would be "overly ambitious" to pass a health care bill on the Senate floor before the August recess. However, she thought the Senate Finance Committee could finish its mark up of the measure by the scheduled summer break and that the Finance and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committees could spend August melding the two proposals. In response to Snowe's recommended delay, however, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said "the president still wants the House and Senate to pass health care reform bills by the August recess."

  Snowe, who is a swing vote on the tax-writing panel, noted the complexity of the bill and said members should not be restrained by a set timeline to finish their work. "It's important to take time to work through these issues," Snowe said. Although she stressed the importance of moving in a "deliberative fashion," Snowe thought Congress should be able to pass a health care reform bill this year.

  The Finance Committee needs to review the ramifications of its proposal to make sure it is not "overloaded with taxes and spending," she advised reporters. Snowe said it is preferable and desirable to win bipartisan support of the Finance Committee bill in order to increase the odds of a bipartisan bill on the Senate floor.

  On the Baucus comments about the president's lack of support for taxing employer-provided health benefits, Burton said there are bound to be "bumps along the way" toward passing House and Senate legislation. He maintained that the president is not favoring the House and HELP bills over the Finance measures that are under consideration. The president is still very committed to reaching agreement on a final package that has bipartisan support, Burton asserted.

  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., inched closer to completing his mark on health care reform July 16 despite news that the legislation would cost more than it would save. Appearing earlier in the day before the Senate Budget Committee, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf told lawmakers that the reform revenue measures proposed to date would only serve to increase federal spending on health care.

  "In the legislation that has been reported, we have not seen the fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount, and, on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for healthcare costs," he said. Elmendorf told the panel that the government has two powerful levers for controlling costs: changing Medicare payment rules and limiting the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored insurance. But the latter option has led to second thoughts among Senate Democrats and was never favored by President Obama.

  "Basically, the president is not helping, "said Baucus following a bipartisan meeting with several members from the Committee. "He does not want the exclusion, and that's making it difficult." Baucus, however, said the proposal was still on the table.

  Key members of the panel continued to meet throughout the day with Baucus, looking for the right combination of health care delivery savings and revenues that Democrats and hopefully some GOP members will accept. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said the group was looking at about 10 smaller revenue proposals that could help fill the estimated $320 billion gap.

  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. told reporters that he still hopes the Senate can take up health care reform legislation during the week beginning July 27, but that it would depend on whether or not the Senate Finance Committee completes a markup of its bill during the week beginning July 20.

  By Jeff Carlson and Paula Cruickshank, CCH News Staff