Game Changing Vote On Health Care

by Bruce Webb

Key Senate committee passes health care plan

The Senate Finance Committee passed a long-awaited $829 billion health care bill Tuesday by a 14-9 vote. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was the lone committee member to cross party lines, breaking with other Republicans to vote for the measure. All the committee’s Democrats supported the bill.

The MSM will lead with Snowe, but the real story to follow is that last sentence. Neither Conrad nor Lincoln left the fold. Meaning that at first glance there is no chance they would vote to keep the merged bill from at least coming to the floor for debate (which was a possibility if they had defected on the SFC bill itself) and I would think little chance they would back a filibuster on final passage.

TPM liveblogged the vote here: LIVEBLOG: Senate Finance Committee Votes On Health Care Reform Bill

I’ll be following this story all day and night but mostly not be able to comment. So consider this an open Health Care thread. I would throw one question out for discussion: Did AHIP overplay its hand by releasing the PWC Report? Because I certainly would not have predicted the Conservadems falling into line the way they did, something got them off the fence.