New Divides Emerge in Health Reform Talks

WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee negotiators are trying to bring down the cost of a broad health-care bill, but new splits are emerging on whether to reduce subsidies for people to buy insurance, according to Senate aides familiar with the talks.

The Finance Committee, led by three Democrats and three Republicans who make up the so-called Gang of Six negotiators, is the only committee in Congress seeking to produce a bipartisan bill.

Republicans are pressing to reduce the size of tax credits for families with incomes that are below three times the poverty rate. They would also like to trim back insurance coverage mandates in hopes of lowering premiums that would have to be subsidized.

But the three Democrats believe savings can be found without going to the heart of the bill. "There are not going to be significant changes to coverage," said one Democratic aide familiar with the talks. "We're finding other ways to bring down the cost."

The six negotiators are working against a Sept. 15 deadline to reach a deal before Democratic leaders give up and move ahead with a partisan bill. A conference call went until nearly midnight Thursday with no major breakthroughs.

Both sides say the core of a bill has already come together that would represent dramatic changes, both for those with health insurance and the uninsured. That core bill would impose new regulations on insurance companies, preventing them from withholding coverage for applicants with pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage when a customer gets sick. It would also cap out-of-pocket expenses and end lifetime coverage caps. And insurers would have to narrow price differences for comparable policies.

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