2 a.m. on C-SPAN is usually reserved for coverage of the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents' annual meeting or a panel discussion of Lost and Stolen Art.

Last night was different.

After seven days of hearings with a total of 564 amendments offered, the Senate Finance Committee finished working on its portion of the health reform legislation. Pending a preliminary CBO score of the amended legislation, the committee will reconvene next Tuesday to make any final changes before reporting it out of committee.

This was the longest mark-up in over 15 years for the Senate Finance Committee. It produced what the Washington Post describes as "a political consensus large enough to carry the plan to final passage..." The conclusion of the Finance hearing clears the way for health reform legislation to reach the floors of House and Senate -- as early as mid-October.

From the White House, President Obama applauded Finance's "tireless effort" and reiterated: "We are now closer than ever before to finally passing reform that will offer security to those who have coverage and affordable insurance to those who don't."

In a statement, chairman Max Baucus, took the opportunity to detail some of the bill's accomplishments:

This bill will lower taxes for more than 42 million Americans and reduce the federal deficit. 

This bill will protect Medicare benefits for seniors. 

This bill will significantly expand health coverage. 

By building on our employer-based system, the majority of Americans can keep what they have today, if they like it. 

And this bill will help the most vulnerable in our society get the care they need, not just the care they can afford. 

 

 

 

 

Despite some of the partisan rhetoric, both Baucus and Obama stressed the bipartisan nature of the final product. The bill took "good ideas from both sides of the aisle," Baucus asserted. It "considered hundreds of amendments, and incorporated many of the best ideas from both parties," the White House added.

The marathon nature of the hearings was enough to leave even the most ardent followers of health reform at their Twit's end, so here's a quick rundown of the major developments this week:

• Sen. Maria Cantwell's basic health plan: The provisions passed by a vote 12-11 would give states the option to negotiate with insurance companies to create plans to cover people with incomes between 133 to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The plans would be funded with tax credits that would otherwise be used for subsidies to help these individuals purchase coverage through an exchange. The goal is to leverage the purchasing power of the states to provide low-income individuals with better benefits at a lower cost. The plan is similar to Medicaid managed care programs and is modeled on the Washington Basic Health Plan which Cantwell notes has had success generating savings while raising patients' quality of care and doctors' reimbursements. The New York Times Prescriptions blog has more.
• Affordability: As we've noted earlier, this remains one of the dominant issues going forward, and the New York Times has a nice overview of the developments so far and challenges going forward. The biggest change came late Thursday evening, when the Committee passed, by a vote of 21-1, an amendment lowering the income threshold for which individuals would be exempted from the requirement to purchase health insurance, from 10 to 8 percent. That is, if the only plans available to an individual cost more than 8 percent of their income, they would not be required to purchase insurance. Championed by Senators Chuck Schumer and Olympia Snowe, the amendment phases in the penalty for not purchasing insurance through 2017 and lowers the final fees for failing to do so -- from $1,900 to $1,500 for a family.
• The Public Health Insurance Option: On Tuesday the Committee defeated two amendments, one from Sen. Rockefeller and one from Sen. Schumer, that would have included the creation of public health insurance option in the Finance bill. The debate is far from over. Expect Snowe's trigger option and Senator Tom Carper's state-based compromise to be debated on the floor of the Senate.

 Note: Photo not from Senate Finance mark up