The Health Care Blog: Has Harry Reid Torpedoed Reform?

Health care reform ran into new BIG trouble this week with a series of comments from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On Tuesday, Reid leapt into the middle of reform negotiations, telling Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus that Democratic leaders had major concerns about the draft Senate Finance bill’s proposed taxation of some health benefits and the exclusion of a strong public plan. The immediate result was the effective suspension of bipartisan negotiations on the Senate Finance draft, with Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Orrin Hatch both saying that bill markup would have to be delayed indefinitely until the conflict was resolved. The Health Care Blog: Has Harry Reid Torpedoed Reform?