The Power of A

Saturday night the House of Representatives passed HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, by a vote of 220-215.  Thirty-nine Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with all but one Republican against the bill.

The Wall Street Journal has a breakdown of how the bill will impact different constituencies, and more in-depth information on specific provisions can be found in this previous Power of A post.

The major debate on Saturday afternoon was over the inclusion of the Stupak amendment, one of only two amendments the House Rules Committee allowed to be considered before the final vote.  The Stupak amendment modified the bill’s abortion language to prohibit insurance plans that participated in the exchange from using any funds to cover abortion.  The amendment passed 240-194 with one present vote, and the second amendment, a Republican substitute, was defeated 176-258, with one Republican voting no and one Democrat not voting.

All eyes now turn toward the Senate to see if the House vote will spur renewed action on that chamber’s merged bill.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) expects the Congressional Budget Office scores of his proposals to be released by the end of the week, but the Democratic leadership is still trying to line up 60 votes to proceed with passage of the bill.  The New York Times has a summary of the potentially key Democratic votes in the debate.

Quick Hits

The Washington Post examines how the economy is hitting trade associations (with ASAE data)… The IRS publishes a new compliance guide for non-501(c)(3) organizations… A profile of the lone Republican health care vote, Rep. Anh Cao (pronounced “Gow”)… The Wall Street Journal profiles the “no” votes in the Democratic caucus… Politico gives a behind-the-scenes look at the debates within the Democratic caucus over the final vote.