Biden to Senate: Pass health bill; I’ll tackle climate
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) dealt some big blows to President Biden’s agenda, but it looks like health care is the area that might actually still happen.
Biden on Friday told senators to move forward with a slimmed-down, health care-only reconciliation package before their August recess after Manchin struck a blow to his agenda over its tax and climate provisions, which Biden said he will address through executive action.
“After decades of fierce opposition from powerful special interests, Democrats have come together, beaten back the pharmaceutical industry and are prepared to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices and to prevent an increase in health insurance premiums for millions of families with coverage under the Affordable Care Act,” Biden said in a statement.
The emerging package: Manchin told Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday that if Democrats move the budget reconciliation bill before August, he will only support two provisions:
- Lower prescription drug prices (by allowing Medicare to negotiate on a subset of drugs)
- A two-year extension of expiring enhanced health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act
Manchin said he’d reject the climate spending and tax hikes on the wealthy in the package, only supporting a narrow budget reconciliation package before Labor Day.
“Action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever,” said Biden. “So let me be clear: if the Senate will not move to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, I will take strong executive action to meet this moment.”
