How does 2 tough health care issues remain in the House?
WASHINGTON — The Senate Democratic leader indicated Tuesday that lawmakers may not complete health care legislation this year, missing President Barack Obama’s deadline on his signature issue and pushing debate into a congressional election year. With just eight weeks left, the Senate is running out of time to finish a comprehensive bill to extend coverage to millions of Americans and control rising medical costs. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., emerged from a closed-door meeting of rank-and-file Democrats signaling that delay was likely. Asked if he could pass health care this year, Reid said: “We’re not going to be bound by any timelines. We need to do the best job we can for the American people. We want quality legislation, and we’re going to do that.” Reid said he was awaiting a final analysis of the legislation from the Congressional Budget office, a time-consuming process that makes it unlikely the Senate would begin debate before Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11. With scores of
