White House Urges Senate Democrats To Act on Stimulus Package

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and top Bush administration officials discussed economic stimulus legislation on Nov. 25 but "exhibited no progress in their standoff" on the issue, the Wall Street Journal reports. On "Fox News Sunday," Daschle "reemphasized" that Democrats favor a bill that would provide new benefits for unemployed workers, including health insurance subsidies. "I think it would be a tragedy if we left this session of Congress without helping the unemployed at all," he said (Ip/McKinnon, Wall Street Journal, 11/26). Earlier this month, Senate Republicans blocked a bill, proposed by Democrats, that would have provided $14.3 billion to extend benefits for unemployed workers by 13 weeks and $12.3 billion to help unemployed workers purchase health coverage through COBRA. COBRA, the 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, allows unemployed workers to retain health coverage under their former employers' insurance plans by paying 102% of the premiums. In addition, the legislation would have allowed states to extend Medicaid coverage to unemployed workers who do not qualify for COBRA and provided $1.4 billion to boost the federal match to states for Medicaid (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 11/15). Bush administration officials on Nov. 25 "prodded" Senate Democrats to support the House's version of an economic stimulus bill, which is substantially different from the Senate version (Lindlaw, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/26). The House in October approved a $100 billion GOP-sponsored bill, supported by Bush, that would increase funding for the Social Services Block Grant program by $3 billion to allow states to provide health insurance to unemployed workers and their families (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/29). "The Senate has dithered an awful long time" on an economic stimulus bill, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on the Nov. 25 CNN " Late Edition," adding, "The Senate needs to get its act together" (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/26).

Bush Addresses the Issue
USA Today reports that Bush will "turn his attention" to economic stimulus legislation this week and "press" lawmakers to pass a bill this year. Bush will likely decide after a Nov. 27 meeting with congressional leaders whether he will compromise on the issue, USA Today reports (Keen, USA Today, 11/23). Bush hopes to "jump-start stalled [economic stimulus] negotiations" at the meeting (Reuters/Washington Times, 11/26). Late last month, Bush "demanded" that Congress pass an economic stimulus package by the end of November (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 11/1). However, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have not agreed on how to reconcile their two bills, and Bush has "made no serious effort to bring them together" (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 11/19).

Washington Post Editorial
A Washington Post editorial criticizes an economic stimulus bill proposed by "self-styled" Senate moderates as a "not much useful policy" that would result in "neither a disaster nor a particular boon, except perhaps to the politicians" who sponsored the bill (Washington Post, 11/23). The bill, sponsored by Sens. John Breaux (D-La.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Zell Miller (D-Ga.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and James Jeffords (I-Vt.) would establish a tax credit to help unemployed workers cover 50% of the cost of health insurance through COBRA (Boyer, Washington Times, 11/21). However, according to the Washington Post editorial, under the bill the "neediest of the unemployed would stay needy, the more so as hard-pressed" states, which would receive no additional funding under the proposal, reduce Medicaid benefits that unemployed workers may have used (Washington Post, 11/23).