ABC News'Z. Byron Wolf reports:Democratic senators met for a spirited, and at times contentious closed-door meeting today as their leaders set about merging the conflicting committee proposals into a final Senate health reform bill.
“Voices were raised, people spoke passionately,” said Sen. Evan Bayh, a moderate Democrat from Indiana who has expressed concern with a public option after the meeting.
“Unlike a lot of caucuses this one proved to be rather interesting,” he said.
The leaders charged with drafting a final bill projected a unified front after the meeting.
“We have that moral obligation.And that is why we are going to pass health care reform legislation this year, and it is why every Democrat will vote for it, and it is why there will be at least one Republican and maybe a couple more who also will vote for it,” said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who wrote the more centrist of the two committee bills and is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Chris Dodd to write the final bill.
The leaders met yesterday with key administration officials, including the HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
That’s an optimistic prediction from Baucus and Reid did not echo Baucus’ pledge that there would be Democratic unity.
“There are many competing views as to how to best move to health care reform. There are different views within my caucus,” said Reid.
He also said he spoke today with two Republicans. One of those, we know, is Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, although it unclear exactly what was said.
Reid said staffers would work through the weekend on detailing a final bill and the Democratic leaders would reconvene Monday.
The break will give Reid a chance to campaign in Nevada, where he is facing a tough reelection fight. He was asked about his dueling roles – passing health reform through the polarized atmosphere of the Senate as opposed to representing Nevadans.
“If carrying the load for the Democrats as majority leader helps to end your Senate career in Nevada, will it have been worth it?” a reporter asked.
Here’s how Reid answered: “I don't answer hypothetical questions. No, I — I'm — I — everything is going well in Nevada. We have an economy that's very difficult in Nevada and we all know that. But it's going to get better there. I met with the realtors on Friday in Las Vegas, and all of the realtors — the executives, the bosses — they said for the first time in a long time they feel some significant movement in a positive vein. We have — the hotels are loaded on weekends. We still have a little bit of capacity during the middle of the week, but we're doing fine.”
“As far as all the work that we've done, all my polling numbers are fine,” Reid said. “They're not from a newspaper in Nevada that you guys tend to focus on. All my polling numbers are fine. I'm continuing to do the best I can for the people of this country and the people of Nevada.”
Finding reliable polling this far from the election is difficult. But it seems fair to say that Reid will have a fight on his hands.
At the meeting in Washington, participants said various senators spoke about the public option and whether it should be included. Sens. Kent Conrad and Max Baucus defended the proposal that passed out of the Senate Finance Committee, which included a proposal for a series of non-profit co-ops instead of a government-run insurance option.
Bayh said he is leaning toward giving states the ability to create a public option, perhaps with federal backing. He called states “laboratories of democracy,” and said that letting states create their own public insurance option would allow for different approaches.
“We can’t fully anticipate the consequences,” of reform, Bayh said. “That’s why the state experimental format has appeal.”
“Public option” is a term in search of a definition at the moment. It could be a national public option or a state opt-in public option or an opt-out public option. But several senators in the meeting said they seem likely to place some sort of public option in the bill.
It’s also unclear what will come of a new Democratic tactic – they will force a vote next week on a permanent fix to planned cuts for doctors who treat patients on Medicare. The so-called Doc Fix, which is made each year by Senators and has ballooned over time, would equal a 21 percent cut in payments to doctors next year.
A permanent fix, which is inside other health reform bills, accounts for $245 billion. That’s nearly a quarter trillion dollars. Forcing the vote next week could would make passing a comprehensive reform bill seem much cheaper, but would ultimately be a sort of budgetary shell game.
Reid said it would “wipe the slate clean.”
“And everyone understand, we address these physician payment cuts every year. This is nothing different than we've done before. This is a flawed formula, and we know we have to fix the problem each and every year so that the seniors are able to see their doctors. That's what this is all about,” he said.
“All we're doing is wiping the slate clean by adjusting the baseline to what is current policy. This is not new policy. And we're, in fact, codifying present policy.”
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