Legal Commentary

The Stupak Problem Won't Go Away, But It Can Be Fixed

By Big Tent Democrat

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) is not budging on his opposition to the Senate health bill's provisions partially funding, through subsidies, private insurance that offers abortion services coverage:

[T]the President's proposal encompasses the Senate language allowing public funding of abortion. The Senate language is a significant departure from current law and is unacceptable. While the President has laid out a health care proposal that brings us closer to resolving our differences, there is still work to be done before Congress can pass comprehensive health care reform.

If Stupak carries enough votes with him, he can block the passage of a Senate health bill, even with a reconciliation fix. I've discussed this before, but one clear way of addressing the Stupak problem is to replace the subsidies and the exchanges with a further expansion of Medicaid. Remember, the Stupak Amendment is all about preventing subsidy monies from being used to fund private health insurance policies that cover abortion services. Expand Medicaid further, eliminate the subsidies and exchanges, expand the exemption from the individual mandate and you can eliminate the Stupak problem while still meeting the objectives of the current Senate bill. And all of this is doable with a reconciliation fix.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 23, 2010 (boomark / email).