Health Care BS

A lot of attention has been devoted to the reluctance of anti-abortion House Democrats to vote for the Senate reform bill, but there’s another ticking time bomb in that legislation which has been virtually ignored—a provision prohibiting illegal immigrants from buying coverage from the proposed health exchanges.

Hispanic [House] Democrats say they haven’t moved from their stance that they will not vote for a healthcare bill containing the Senate’s prohibitions.

And they have a warning for anyone who thinks they have changed their minds:

On Wednesday, members of the [Congressional Hispanic Caucus] privately acknowledged they’ve told their leaders that anyone who is assuming they’ve backed away from their position is in for a rude awakening.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham has warned the President that any attempt to jam Obamacare down the electorate’s throat using reconciliation will kill immigration reform:

I expressed, in no uncertain terms, my belief that immigration reform could come to a halt for the year if health care reconciliation goes forward … Using reconciliation to push health care through will make it much harder for Congress to come together on a topic as important as immigration.

And, if Obama appears unable to deliver on “immigration reform,” the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will be even less likely to support him on an Obamacare bill for which they already have a marked aversion. So, once again, Obama and Pelosi are facing the grim reality that rank-and-file Democrats (rather than those dastardly Republicans) may kill the bill.

Every member of the the CHC voted for the House version of Obamacare. If some of these folks refuse to vote for the Senate bill, and some members of the Stupak coalition also vote “no,” it’s pretty hard to see where Pelosi is going to get her 216 votes.