Senate approves plan to help women get medical screenings

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Senate approves plan to help women get medical screenings

By David Lightman | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 61-39 on Thursday to approve a plan that would make it easier for women to get medical screenings aimed at detecting a variety of diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

The first votes since debate began Monday on how to overhaul the nation's health care system were wins for Democrats. They championed the women's health measure and largely stuck together to defeat by 58-42 a bid by Republicans to undo more than $400 billion worth of Medicare cuts over 10 years.

The bill itself remained stalled, however. Though Democrats control 60 of the Senate's 100 seats, they've been unable to agree on abortion policy and how, or whether, to create a government-run alternative to private insurance.

The health care legislation, estimated to cost $848 billion over 10 years, would require nearly all Americans to buy health care coverage and would bar insurers from rejecting people because of pre-existing conditions.

Debate on the women's health plan — which is estimated to cost $940 million over 10 years — was an oasis of comity in the four-day-old health care debate. Most of the "no" votes came from Republicans, who were concerned about government interference in health care decisions.

They were outnumbered, however.

"We want to be able to save lives and we want to be able to save money," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who sponsored the proposal with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. "We do know early screening and detection does save lives and at the same time, it saves money."

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