The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote today on a proposal to scale back a cigarette-tax increase earmarked to help pay for health reform.
In a vote-seeking concession to tobacco-state lawmakers, the new proposal would cut the increase to 45 cents a pack, down from President Clinton's plan to raise the 24-cent federal tax to 99 cents.
To make up the lost revenue, the proposal calls for delaying long-term care coverage until the year 2000.
Some lawmakers complain it's not fair to force those who want to slash the cigarette hike to vote against long-term care.
Says Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn.: "Someone who votes for this is going to vote against the seniors."
Meanwhile, in Chicago, the American Medical Association refused to oppose Clinton's health-reform plan or its requirement that employers pay for workers' insurance.
The AMA defeated a resolution opposing Clinton's plan "in its current form" and refused to reject employer mandates, despite opposition from conservative members.
At the same time, the conservative colors of the AMA were clear: Incremental reforms and tax-free medical savings accounts preferred by Republicans won praise, while the mandates, bureaucracy and price controls favored by Democrats to achieve universal coverage were broadly denounced.
"If you took a poll of doctors, they're 95% opposed to the Clinton plan," said Nebraska pathologist Jerald Schenken, an AMA trustee. "But that wasn't what the vote was. The vote was to provide flexibility to the board."
