FLINT -- "Health care reform today is very different than what health care reform was (before Tuesday),” said Barbara Kornblau, Dean of U-M Flint’s Health Professions and Studies school. She was one of the architects of the health care reform legislation before the US House and Senate, doing particular work on disability coverage.
The Senate was close to passing the final reform bill until Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown became US Senator-Elect Scott Brown. Once seated, he will become the 41st Republican vote in the Senate. That is enough to break the Democrats filibuster-proof majority, which would have prevented Republicans from stopping the legislation.
“You have to please Republicans now. You didn’t have to please them before,” Kronblau said.
Senators and US House members hammered out a cohesive bill last week, but with trouble in the Senate, Kornblau said there are a few options. In the first option, the House could pass the Senate’s original bill. However, this option creates a few problems.
“Liberals in the House don’t like it,” she said, speaking of the bill. “Conservatives in the House don’t like it. People in the middle don’t like it,” Kornblau added.
The second option, often called the nuclear option, is reconciliation. Here, the Democrat-controlled Senate could pass a bill with just 51 votes, or a simple majority. The filibuster-proof 60 is not needed. Yet this option creates other problems.
“Reconciliation is limited to budget items. It’s kind of like when you balance your check book,” she said.
That means policy-items that deal with pre-existing conditions for example, or requiring Americans to buy health insurance, are not considered. Despite the potential for more complications, Kornblau said something will be passed eventually.
"I don't think its dead,” she said. “But if I know whether something is going to be passed in six months, I think I could be at one of the casinos betting."
