Stakeholders weigh in on Senate healthcare reform bill

On the eve of a highly controversial Senate vote on health reform, stakeholders for and against are voicing strong convictions.

Among those pleased with the progress are Democrats and President Barack Obama, who have been pushing to pass a healthcare reform overhaul before year's end. The House passed its version in early November, but the Senate has had a difficult time forging compromises needed to pass the bill. Obama has said he will not leave Washington for a holiday break until the Senate bill is approved.

Others are displeased, even Obama supporters like MoveOn, a grass roots political action group that was instrumental in helping Obama win the 2008 presidential election. The group is in favor of reform, but not what they consider the watered-down version the Senate is proposing.

"While the House bill is quite strong, the Senate healthcare bill is seriously flawed," said a MoveOn e-mail to members on Tuesday.

Leaders of MoveOn said the Senate bill would deny Americans the choice of a public option and make insurance unaffordable for some lower-income and working people. "Both bills require virtually all Americans to buy insurance. But even with the subsidies provided, some families could have to pay up to 20 percent  of their income on healthcare expenses," they said.

MoveOn also opposes what it calls "dangerous restrictions on women's reproductive healthcare" found in the bill and a measure to tax American workers' health coverage to pay for reform. The organization said it does not support measures that would allow insurance companies to remain exempt from anti-trust laws.

Another displeased organization, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, said the latest version of the Senate healthcare bill continues to ignore the plight of small businesses and instead burdens them with additional taxes and regulations that will drive business costs higher.

"Rather than moving in a direction that heeds the concerns of small business, the Senate health bill imposes an even higher tax burden on our sector while retaining other tax, regulatory and compliance measures that will drive business and health coverage costs higher," said SBE Council President  and CEO Karen Kerrigan.

The Senate is expected to vote on its bill Wednesday morning. After passage, the bill must be reconciled with the House version before it can become law.