Nelson becomes the 60th vote as Senate Dems plod through a snowy work Saturday

The Washington Post: "Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, was prepared to announce to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas." Democratic leaders have worked for days to reach a deal with a deal with Nelson, "and worked late Friday night with Nelson on abortion coverage language that had proved the major stumbling block. But Nelson also secured other favors for his home state" (Murray, 12/19). 

Politico: "Senate Democrats reached a deal with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) Friday night to move forward with a health care reform bill, clearing the way for a series of votes on the landmark legislation next week, said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y). Schumer told reporters in the Capitol that the deal was finalized late Friday night, with a handshake at 10:30 p.m."Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Schumer, Nelson and White House officials Pete Rouse and Jim Messina were involved in the negotiations, which, Politico reports, ended after a marathon 13 hours of talks. "The compromise gets Reid to the 60 votes he needs to move ahead with health reform, but it's going to be a long weekend. The first vote right now is set for 1 a.m. Monday - after a reading of the so-called manager's amendment released this morning. The final vote, under the current calendar, would take place at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve" (Budoff Brown and Frates, 12/19).

The Wall Street Journal: "Senate Democratic leaders had been pushing for a resolution of Mr. Nelson's concerns by Saturday in their bid to get a final vote on the health bill by Christmas." Abortion had been a key sticking point and Nelson had been seeking "language similar to that in a House-passed version of health-care legislation that effectively bars people who receive government subsidies to buy insurance from enrolling in any insurance plan that covers abortion." A spokesman for the majority leader said a "manager's amendment" to the overall health bill will be filed today. It will incorporate "a host of changes to the bill as it is currently written." 

Among the other points Nelson had been raising was "a proposal to exempt nonprofit insurance companies from a proposed tax on the industry, people familiar with the talks said. He was also seeking ways to ease the financial burden that would be imposed on Nebraska under the bill's proposed expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor" (Hitt, Yoest and Adamy, 12/19).