Olympia Snowe of Maine, David Vitter of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine should recieve widespread respect from Americans every where.



Senate casts first votes to overhaul health care

WASHINGTON – The Senate cast its first votes on remaking the nation's health care system Thursday, approving an amendment to safeguard coverage of mammograms and preventive screening tests for women under a revamped system.

The 61-39 vote on a provision by Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine was the first substantive ballot in an acrimonious debate that promises to go on for weeks, the legislative equivalent of trench warfare.

The vote came after three days of angry debate in which Democrats accused Republicans of stalling to try to kill the bill, and Republicans protested that they were only exercising their right to give the complex legislation full scrutiny.

The first vote was held under a special agreement requiring 60 votes to prevail. The outcome underscored the fragility of the coalition Democrats are counting on to move President Barack Obama's signature issue.

Votes on Medicare were scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

After that will come an amendment to restrict abortion funding, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Drafted by an abortion opponent — Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska — it looms as a major challenge for the Democrats.

Though Democrats have 60 votes in the Senate, two Democratic senators voted against the Mikulski amendment — Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Nelson. The measure was saved by three Republicans voting in favor — Snowe, David Vitter of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine.

Thursday's vote followed the heated controversy over a government advisory panel's recent recommendation that routine mammograms aren't needed for women in their 40s. Although the advisers' recommendation was nonbinding, it prompted fears that the health care legislation would usher in an era of rationing.

The Mikulski amendment gives the health and human services secretary authority to require health plans to cover additional preventive services for women. The Congressional Budget Office said the amendment would cost $940 million over a decade

Mikulski said her amendment would guarantee that decisions are left to women and their doctors, not placed in the hands of government bureaucrats or medical statisticians. She accepted a modification to her amendment by Vitter that would specifically prevent the controversial recommendations on mammograms from restricting coverage of the test.

However, Republicans said that Mikulski's amendment still left too much discretion to the HHS secretary. A competing amendment by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, would prevent the government from using the recommendations of outside advisers to deny coverage of preventive services, including mammograms and Pap tests. It was defeated by on a vote of 41-59.

Votes scheduled later Thursday on Medicare go to the heart of seniors' concerns that cuts from the program used to finance coverage for the uninsured will undermine the quality of care for the elderly.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is proposing to strip more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts from the nearly $1 trillion bill, and send the whole measure back to committee so a different financing scheme can be found. A competing amendment by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., underscores that no benefits in traditional Medicare will be cut by the legislation. It also clarifies that the Medicare cuts — amounting to a 2 percent slowdown in spending — will extend the life of the program and lower premiums for beneficiaries.

Furious with opposition to his measure from the seniors' lobby AARP, McCain railed on the Senate floor and delivered a message to his more than 300,000 constituents in the private insurance program known as Medicare advantage.

"Take your AARP card, cut it in half and send it back. They've betrayed you," he said.

Underscoring the political stakes, McCain, recorded "robocalls" in states that are home to key moderate Democrats asking voters to support McCain's amendment stripping the bill's Medicare cuts. The calls, paid for by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, targeted Nelson, Bennet and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

"On Monday, I introduced the first Republican amendment to the massive health care bill, which would send the bill back to the Senate Finance Committee and stop the Democrats from cutting vital Medicare coverage for our seniors. I need Sen. Blanche Lincoln to join me in this effort," McCain says in the call heard by Arkansas residents.

He asks them to go to an NRSC Web site and sign a petition to Lincoln "urging her to join my effort to fight a Washington, D.C., government takeover of your health care."

The scripts in the other states were identical. Another call by a live operator was heard by voters in North Dakota, which prohibits robocalls, and it delivered the same message, targeted at Sen. Byron Dorgan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul;_ylt=AnCZx1TF8mm
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I wonder what they were paid for their votes...

btw, love how when the republicans unite, it's a herd of mindless sheep but when the democrats unite, it's not.

Our country is divided

"A house divided against itself cannot stand"

Our country is on a road to self destruction

our country is always divided. This is nothing new.

It is, but it's getting worse...you'll see

I agree!

Democrats have yet to get a consensual party wide agreement>

That's why I consider them a far less danger. They can't get united. Too many still able to achieve free thought.



Eventually they'll either get the hint and succumb to the people's wishes or they'll come under their wrath as well.

Do you have any information on who comprised the panel that recommended mammograms be left out?

I think that is the real story here.

That's easy.
No one recommended they be left out.

"Thursday's vote followed the heated controversy over a government advisory panel's recent recommendation that routine mammograms aren't needed for women in their 40s."

Did you read the article before you posted it?

Of course not...he's a democrat they don't read articles....they just sign off on them

I am patiently awaiting his reply.. Should be a good one..

That was an advisory committee that makes annual recommendations. It is an Independent advisory committee and its recommendations are studies based on scientific studies.
Their studies rarely lead to legislation.
They didn't recommend the health care bill not cover mammograms.
No one did!

The bill about it is to prevent another disinformation attempt by the Republicans.
Now its a non-issue.
Nipped it in the bud they did.
That and paying for abortions as well.

Didn't you watch the news?

Wrong!
I'm unaffiliated!


Sooner or later the Repubs will run out of excuses for not supporting the people's health care in favor of the insurance lobbying money.
When they do maybe, but I doubt it, they'll admit their real motivations.

Whats new is how close we are to the sine of the bell (close to 50/50)

Have we ever been there before?

I applaud the ammendment... Perhaps if we can't derail this massive overkill of a bill we can at least change it so it does the least amout of damage...

So those three you mentioned did not break away from the party... They followed their stated morals and values it would appear.

As far as what McCain is doing... Good for him... I know lots of people that would be adversly impacted if cuts were allowed in Medicaid or Medicare...

What is that darn outh again.

FIRST DO NO HARM.

Jeez doctors out there... What kinda docs are you?

Perhaps some of you class with a few climate scientists I been reading about?

I read this today:

"the Senate backed a guarantee for all insured women age 40 and older to receive mammograms with no out-of-pocket costs. The breast cancer screening test would be included in an array of preventive measures that insurance plans would be required to cover. The proposal cleared on a near party-line vote of 61-39, one more than the 60 needed for passage. It essentially wiped out a federal advisory committee recommendation to defer routine mammograms until women reach the age of 50."

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/12/03/general-us-health-care-overhaul_7182508.html

They weren't going to cut traditional Medicare. It's been all about Medicare Advantage. That's the Medicare HMO plan.

I would have had no problem with them making cuts with Medicare Advantage. Since the program started, it cost around $33 billion extra dollars. That money is going to insurance companies. One of those insurance companies is Aetna.

Older people have been complaining to me about that program. They said that you have to be bleeding profusely to get permission to see a specialist.

They don't have to pay for Medicare Advantage. They do pay monthly for traditional Medicare. It's around $90.00/mth.