U.S. Senate to Begin Formal Debate on Health Reform Week of November 30

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) cleared the first of many procedural hurdles over the weekend with approval of a motion to proceed to formal consideration of federal health reform legislation. Debate on the bill is expected to begin when the Senate returns from Thanksgiving recess, the week of November 30.

The procedural hurdle required 60 votes: all of the chamber’s Democrats and the two independents who caucus with the Democrats. Centrist Democrats, concerned chiefly with narrowing or removing any government-run “public option” from the bill, agreed to proceed to debate, but remain pivotal players in determining the ultimate character of a bill that can achieve passage in the Senate.

HANYS’ summary of the Senate health reform bill is available online. The House passed its version of health reform legislation earlier this month. Contact: Susan Van Meter