Sep 23 2009
Sen. Snowe: Baucus Bill Is 'Solid Starting Point' But Should Slow Down
"Republican Senator Olympia Snowe says the Finance Committee's health care bill is a 'solid starting point' but needs to be improved,"
The Associated Press reports. "The Maine senator is seen as the only Republican on the panel who could end up voting for the bill, so her comments are closely watched." In her opening statement at the Finance Committee mark-up today, "Snowe praised the bill for holding down costs and taking a stab at medical malpractice reform. She said work was still needed to make sure the required insurance is affordable for people. To accommodate such concerns Chairman Max Baucus has announced he's making changes including lowering a penalty on people who don't comply with a requirement to buy insurance" (Werner and Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/22).
CQ Politics: "Snowe, who is likely to be the only Republican to vote for the bill, at least in committee, said she would like to be able to review the final, amended legislation — together with an updated cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office — before voting to approve it. That could delay a committee vote until next week, but Baucus seemed unconcerned. He said Snowe made a 'good point' that the committee should 'make sure the numbers add up, know what the numbers are'" (9/22).
USA Today: "Snowe said it was critical to find a solution to health care issues, but called for putting 'thoughtful deliberation ahead of an arbitrary deadline.' 'We simply cannot address one-sixth of our economy on matters of such personal and financial significance to every American on a legislative fast-track,'" she said (Stanglin, 9/22).
 This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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