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Senate Edges Closer to Final Vote, PhRMA Braces for Impact

By a 60-39 margin, the Senate voted to close debate on the healthcare reform bill this week. All 58 Democrats and 2 Independents secured the necessary 60 votes to move closer to the final vote, expected to take place on Christmas Eve.

This vote, the second of three motions to end debate on the healthcare reform bill, edges the Senate closer to finalizing a position on the healthcare reform debate.  Only one motion voting remains, expected to take place Wednesday afternoon and is "expected to win approval," The Wall Street Journal reports.

Amidst the Senate voting, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters, “Health-care reform is not a matter of if. Health-care reform is now a matter of when.”

If all goes according to plan, the "when" should be Christmas Eve, when the Senate finally votes in favor of the bill.  However, this Senate approval is only the beginning of what is expected to be a long debate, in which the Senate and the House bills must be reconciled into one cohesive healthcare reform bill.  

The task of reconciling the House and Senate bills may prove to be a tremendous undertaking as sharp differences between the two bills are sure to cause controversy.   

And with the Senate-House negotiations looming, PhRMA admits that the $80 billion deal brokered last June might require some renegotiating.  The New York Times is reporting that pharmaceutical lobbyists are bracing for a potential increase in the cost of healthcare reform to the pharmaceutical industry beyond the $80 billion cap, possibly to the tune of $20 billon or more in additional funds.

Ken Johnson, a spokesman for PhRMA told reporters in an interview, “There is still a gap that has to be closed between what the Senate is proposing and what the House passed. I think there is a growing sense that they may need some additional help to achieve that goal, and as a result we are willing to listen.”