Two Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee -- Sens. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) -- have yet to pledge support for the committee's health reform bill, which is scheduled for a vote later this week, the Washington Post reports. With 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans on the Finance panel, the defection of two Democrats with all Republicans voting no would cause the bill to fail in committee, although that scenario is "unlikely," according to the Post. However, the possibility of such a scenario highlights "the power every Senate Democrat -- and perhaps a few Republicans -- hold going forward," the Post reports.

Explaining his hesitation, Wyden said, "More needs to be done to hold insurance companies accountable, to hold premiums down for the American people," adding that he would like to "continue these discussions." Meanwhile, Rockefeller is in favor of a public option, which the Finance Committee bill forsakes. Rockefeller has said he will attempt to add a public option on the Senate floor or in negotiations with the House, the Post reports (Connolly, Washington Post, 10/5).

House Weighs Costs

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and fellow House Democrats this week are expected to debate how to pay for the House reform plan (HR 3200), The Hill reports. The Democrats are split over whether reform measures should include funding from taxes on high-income individuals or by raising taxes on so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans. Another debate ongoing in the House is about whether to keep the public plan option, which is opposed by the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition and excluded from the Senate Finance Committee's bill (Soraghan, The Hill, 10/3).

The goal of House Democratic leaders is to send a unified version of the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring this week. However, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said it will be at least a few more weeks before the bill comes to the floor (Dennis, Roll Call, 10/5).

'Diane Rehm' Features Abortion Discussion

WAMU's "The Diane Rehm Show" on Monday is scheduled to include a discussion on abortion coverage in the health reform debate and the results of a recent poll examining public opinion on abortion rights. Scheduled guests include Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which conducted the poll; Ceci Connolly, a reporter for the Washington Post; Rachel Laser, director of the Culture Program at Third Way; and Stephen Schneck, director of the Life Cycle Institute at the Catholic University of America ("The Diane Rehm Show," WAMU, 10/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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