Democrats Block ID Requirement for Obamacare UPDATE: Also Reject Anti-Abortion Provision

Democrats on Senate Finance unanimously blocked an amendment to the Baucus bill which would require applicants for the healthcare exchanges or healthcare subsidies show a photo ID before receiving benefits.

The President and Democrats have claimed that illegal immigrants will not be eligible for Obamacare, but every time Republicans have sought to introduce language which would actually require applicants to prove their identity and lawful status the Democrats have voted it down.

Without that requirement, the bill "remains dearly lacking when it comes to identification," Grassley said. "Frankly, I'm very perplexed as to why anyone would oppose this amendment," he said.

But Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who represents the border state of New Mexico, said that the type of fraud Grassley said he wants to prevent is highly uncommon. "The way I see the amendment, it's a solution without a problem," Bingaman said.

"Highly uncommon." How would he know?

Related: When you have a second, there's an excellent op-ed over at the WSJ entitled "Why Obama Bombed on Health Care."

UPDATE [DrewM.]: The committee also rejected an amendment sponsored by Orin hosta that would have prevented money provided via tax credits to be used for plans that included abortion services.

No money for abortion or illegal aliens? How about a bridge in Brooklyn, does Obama have any of those for sale?

posted by Gabriel Malor at 01:56 PM

| Access Comments