Senators miffed over Harry Reid’s healthcare reform deal

    When the Medicare cuts were proposed that were supposed to pay for the healthcare reform bill Senator Harry Reid was not happy. He wanted to ensure that his state, Nevada was protected against the additional costs that would have been passed on to the states.

  He was successful in his protest for his state, language was added that guaranteed that the federal government would pay 100% of the Medicare costs for Nevada and three other states. Needless to say senators from the non-exempted states are now looking for the same deal that Harry Reid secured for his state.

  I do not hold it against Harry Reid that he was able to secure this deal, after all, he is there to represent the interests of his state and that is exactly what he did. But he may have opened up a can of worms with the senators of the states which are not receiving special exemptions. He may have unwittingly made this version of healthcare reform much harder to pass.

  There are now senators from 48 states who want the same deal as Harry Reid. If they do not get it they may not be willing to vote for this bill. The opposition to this bill is more than partizan “bickering,”  it is also Democrat versus Democrat.

  There is still a long way to go before this bill passes, in a perfect world it will not pass, and as more senators begin to look out for the interests of their states the cost of the bill will rise. If more states are exempted from the Medicare changes that are supposed to pay for this bill the question must be asked, who will pay for this bill? We all know the answer to that question, we will.