Health-care reform 'still on life support,' Rep. Cooper says

By Chas Sisk • THE TENNESSEAN • November 13, 2009 Democrat-sponsored legislation to reform the nation's health-care system stands a good chance of defeat in the Senate, even after surviving a close vote in the House of Representatives last week, Rep. Jim Cooper said Thursday. "If you peel back the layers further, you realize it may be difficult for the Senate to vote on anything," Cooper told The Tennessean's editorial board. "I'd say health reform, despite the House vote, is still on life support." The Nashville congressman voted Saturday night in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, helping Democrats secure the slim, five-vote majority they needed to clear the House. The tight vote and the compromises needed to get the bill passed show how hard it will be to get it through the Senate, Cooper said. In that chamber, Democrats may hold the supermajority of 60 seats needed to cut off debate and pass a bill. But Cooper cited West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, whose health has been poor, and Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who represents a conservative state, as two Democratic votes that the party may not be able to count on. To get the needed votes, senators will have to agree among themselves on the shape of reform, rendering meaningless much of the language contained in the House version, Cooper said. "There are a number of senators saying they're not going to send it to conference. They're going to say to the House, take it or leave it," he said. "They know what they have to do to get the 60 votes. … A 60-vote majority is very fragile." Nonetheless, Cooper has said it was important for the House not to kill reform. On Thursday, he again defended his vote for an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., that bars health insurance plans listed on a new, federally subsidized health-care exchange from including coverage for abortion services. Abortion rights groups have vowed to fight for the amendment's removal from the final health bill. "We are disappointed," said Keri Adams, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee. "Politics is all about compromise. We just wish that compromise was not at the expense of women's reproductive health care." But Cooper said the Stupak amendment was essential to getting the House votes for a health-care bill. Stupak also may prove to simply be a codification of the 1977 Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion, he said. Regardless, Cooper said he did not cut any deals in exchange for his vote. After showing himself as a public skeptic of the House reform bill, Cooper said he came under no pressure from the White House or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "It's really not like she's ever done anything for me," he said. "If I've gotten anything, it's the back of her hand." He also dismissed arguments that voting for health-care reform was fiscally irresponsible and statements by Gov. Phil Bredesen that the House had passed along part of the cost of reform to the states by expanding Medicaid rolls. Related Q&A: How would abortion restrictions work in health bill? Transcript of Jim Cooper's discussion with 'Tennessean' editorial board Cooper said failure to cut health spending would adversely affect the nation's bond rating, and he said the federal government would pick up 91 percent of the cost of new enrollees. "I think we're actually being dangerously generous," he said. "We had to start somewhere." But Cooper said the Stupak amendment was essential to getting the House votes for a health-care bill. Stupak also may prove to simply be a codification of the 1977 Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion, he said. Regardless, Cooper said he did not cut any deals in exchange for his vote. After showing himself as a public skeptic of the House reform bill, Cooper said he came under no pressure from the White House or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "It's really not like she's ever done anything for me," he said. "If I've gotten anything, it's the back of her hand." He also dismissed arguments that voting for health-care reform was fiscally irresponsible and statements by Gov. Phil Bredesen that the House had passed along part of the cost of reform to the states by expanding Medicaid rolls. Related