By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK – U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said today he is ready for the Senate debate on health care reform to begin, though he is still undecided on what type of reform he will support.
The much-anticipated Senate health care overhaul bill, including a proposed a new government-run insurance option, was expected to be unveiled late Wednesday. Pryor said the Senate could vote as early as Friday on a procedural measure that would allow lawmakers to proceed with debate them to proceed to debate on the legislation.
The senator said he would vote to advance the measure to debate, but he emphasized that the vote would not be tantamount to supporting the initial version of the bill.
“Not the same,” Pryor replied when asked if voting to open debate was the same as supporting a public option. “We’re in a process … this bill could change quite a bit as it goes on the floor.”
Proceeding to debate likely will be difficult. Sixty votes is required to head off a filibuster. Most Senate Republicans and some in the Democratic majority oppose a public health insurance option.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln, also D-Ark., has not said publicly how she will vote on a measure to advance the measure to debate. She was chairing a meeting of the Senate agriculture committee today and was not immediately available for comment.
Lincoln spokeswoman Leah Vest said the senator “wants to read the bill first before making any decision” on how she will vote on a motion to proceed to debate.
“That’s the corner we’re in right now,” Vest said.
Pryor said he expects “robust debate” on the legislation.
“I don’t see one vote as the final answer,” he said, adding it will take “a few weeks of floor time before we know what the final bill is going to look like in the Senate.”
The health care reform bill has been delayed in the Senate for weeks as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid awaited cost estimates while trying to amass the votes necessary to end a possible Republican filibuster.
Pryor said Reid was expected to receive the cost estimates late today from the Congressional Joint Budget office.
The proposal, which merges two health care measures passed by Senate committees, would expand insurance coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and offer subsidies to make coverage more affordable for low-income families.
If the vote to proceed with debate is successful, Pryor said he expects the full Senate to begin debating the bill after Thanksgiving.
“I support health care reform,” he said. “I think we need to reform parts of the health care system that are not working.”
