House Committee Approves Amendments Limiting Coverage, Payment For Abortion Under Health Reform

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday continued work on health care reform legislation (HR 3200), passing an amendment that would neither require nor prohibit insurance companies from providing coverage for abortion services, the New York Times reports. The amendment, offered by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and approved by a 30-28 vote, excludes abortion services from the "essential benefits package" that would be defined by the government. While the committee"s reform bill includes subsidies to help pay premiums for low-income people, the amendment prohibits these subsidies from paying for abortion services, stipulating that "insurers must use money from private s to pay for any abortion," the Times reports. The amendment also requires that at least one plan covers abortion services and one does not in every part of the country (Herszenhorn/Pear, New York Times, 7/31).The committee also rejected an amendment that would have been a blanket prohibition on abortion coverage in both public and private plans governed by health care reform legislation, except in very limited cases, the AP/Google reports. The amendment initially was approved when conservative Democrats joined Republicans in supporting it. However, hours later, committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) invoked House rules that allowed him to call for a second vote on the amendment. It was then rejected by a 29-30 vote when Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) changed his vote from "yes" to "no," and Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio) voted "no" after abstaining the first time (AP/Google, 7/31). The failed amendment was introduced by Reps. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) (Amendment text, 7/30).According to the Times, Democrats on the committee also defeated Republican efforts to eliminate a section of the reform bill that would create a public health insurance plan option (New York Times, 7/31). The AP/Yahoo! News reports that the Energy and Commerce Committee is the last of three House committees to act on health care reform legislation. The Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to finish its work on Friday.The Senate has not matched the House"s progress on reform legislation, as bipartisan negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee Thursday said they need more time to produce an agreement for the committee to review (Werner, AP/Yahoo! News, 7/31). The Finance Committee negotiations between three Democrats and three Republicans, including the committee chair and ranking GOP member, are ongoing as they try to agree on a bipartisan bill that can win at least 60 votes on the Senate floor, CQ Today reports (Jansen/Epstein, CQ Today, 7/30).