Bush Offers To Boost Funds To Help Unemployed Workers Purchase Health Insurance in Economic Stimulus Compromise

President Bush, hoping to "break a stubborn impasse" in negotiations over an economic stimulus bill, on Dec. 11 offered a compromise that would expand unemployment benefits and provide additional funds to help unemployed workers purchase health insurance, the Los Angeles Times reports (Hook, Los Angeles Times, 12/12). Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill proposed the compromise on Dec. 11 to a bipartisan group of Senate moderates, and Bush on Dec. 12 plans to offer the proposal to congressional leaders at a White House meeting (Curl, Washington Times, 12/12). The compromise would extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks and provide tax credits to help unemployed workers purchase health insurance "beyond the money Bush proposed for that purpose" in the past (Los Angeles Times, 12/12). The plan, which also includes a number of tax provisions, would cost about $93 billion in 2002 (Kuhnhenn, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/12). However, it is "unclear how the administration would move from a deal with the centrists to a broader agreement with Democratic leaders," the Washington Post reports (Kessler, Washington Post, 12/12). Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), for example, said on Dec. 11 that the White House must offer "more robust" unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies and drop some tax provisions in the plan before he could agree to a deal, adding, "we still have some way to go" (Murray/Rogers, Wall Street Journal, 12/12). But Bush's proposal may move Democrats into a "tighter corner" and "place additional pressure on Daschle to drop objections" and reach an agreement, CongressDaily/AM reports (Norton/Mitchell, CongressDaily/AM, 12/12).

Proposals and Counterproposals
Meanwhile, Daschle said on Dec. 11 that he would accept a "stripped-down" economic stimulus bill offered on Dec. 10 by House GOP leaders, but added that he had "significant reservation[s]" about a tax provision in the legislation (Los Angeles Times, 12/12). The compromise legislation would include at least $20 billion to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks and to help unemployed workers purchase health insurance (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 12/11). Daschle said that he would call House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to discuss the compromise after he received "endorsement" from the Democratic Caucus, CongressDaily reports. He also said that he "wanted to clarify" that the unemployment and health insurance provisions in the bill would apply to temporary workers and new hires (Earle, CongressDaily, 12/11). The Washington Post reports that Daschle's decision to "embrace" the House GOP proposal "flummoxed" Republicans (Washington Post, 12/12). House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), who proposed the plan, dismissed Daschle's outreach to Hastert as "meaningless" (Wegner/Norton, CongressDaily, 12/11). The Washington Post reports that although the Dec. 11 "flurry of proposals and counterproposals gave the appearance of movement" in negotiations on an economic stimulus bill, "it was not clear whether lawmakers were any closer to an agreement" (Washington Post, 12/12). The original House stimulus bill, passed in October, would increase by $3 billion funding for the Social Services Block Grant program to allow states to provide health insurance to unemployed workers and their families. It also includes a number of tax and finance provisions targeted toward businesses and consumers (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/29). Senate Democrats had proposed a different bill, which Republicans blocked last month, 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. The legislation would also 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).