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Democratic senators facing voters next year are willing to give the White House time to resolve the glaring problems with Obamacare.
Very little time.
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[h=4]Obama addresses Americans losing health coverage[/h]
At the pleading of senior White House officials, Senate Democrats are holding off on demands to delay major aspects of the health care law until the Obama administration has the opportunity to fix the website problems that are thwarting enrollment in the program.
Democratic senators facing reelection have a green light to bash the White House and call for certain legislative fixes. But they’ve been urged by senior administration officials not to insist on delaying the controversial law’s core: The mandate for individuals to purchase insurance coverage or face penalties.
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Their requests are being heeded — for now.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who attended a tense two-hour meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday over the issue, stressed that senators should give the administration just “a little bit” of breathing room.
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The individual mandate takes effect Jan. 1. But consumers have until March 31 to enroll in health insurance coverage or risk being assessed with a fine, which is either $95 or 1 percent of household income — whichever is the higher amount. But as the marketplaces, known as the exchanges, have endured a disastrous rollout and a dysfunctional enrollment website, the White House is under enormous pressure to quell the uproar before facing insurmountable pressure in Congress.
Already, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) is preparing legislation to extend the enrollment period beyond March 31, and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has offered a bill to allow consumers to keep their existing coverage. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) unveiled bipartisan legislation Thursday with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) to delay for one year the penalties if consumers do not comply with the individual mandate. Unlike Shaheen and Landrieu, Manchin does not face reelection next year.
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At the White House meeting Wednesday, Shaheen reiterated her calls to extend the enrollment period, but the president is not ready to go along with that at this point.
“There was no resolution on that,” Shaheen said Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has no plans to put legislation on the floor to delay any of the Obamacare deadlines, putting him in line with the White House. But it’s unclear how long Reid can hold off if the administration continues to stumble and pressure grows within his ranks to act in order to protect his fragile Senate majority.
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One senior Senate Democratic aide predicted that no action on the law would be taken before the end of the year but added that all bets are off if the problems extend into 2014.
“If we can’t pivot off this by the new year, then we’re in trouble,” the senior aide acknowledged.
In short, Democrats’ best hope is that the political backlash they are now enduring over the law is the worst it will get. Heading into 2014, when Democrats can only lose five net seats if they want to keep the Senate majority, the party wants to sell a positive story about the law’s successes - and portray Republicans as fixated on recycling old political battles.
“Stop carping about this,” Reid scolded GOP senators on Thursday. “Get over it. It’s the law. It’s the legacy of Barack Obama and always will be. Let’s get over this and stop the mischievous, misfortunate speeches out here every day about how bad it is.”
