Health Care Betrayal from Both Sides?

As Congress prepares to pick up its heated health care debate next month, it appears dealmakers on both sides of the aisle may be double-crossing their negotiating partners.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), one of the few Republicans supposedly working on a bipartisan compromise for health care reform, upped the threshold this week for what he would consider a bill worth voting for.

At a town hall meeting Wednesday in Le Mars, Iowa, the Senate Finance Committee member said the soaring federal budget deficit "puts a stake in the heart" of the costly health care reform package Congress is considering, Bloomberg reports. Grassley reportedly said health care reform legislation will have to be scaled back if it is to pass in the current economic climate. He also said he may not vote for the bill unless he is guaranteed Iowa's hospitals will not be harmed by an agreement hospitals made with the Obama administration to lower their costs.

Grassley is one of six committee members (called the "gang of six") attempting to write a version of health care reform legislation that could garner some Republican support. He has, however, become increasingly critical of the reform proposals on the table. He and fellow gang of six Republican Sen. Mike Enzi have said they will not vote for a bill unless it wins the support of a number of Republicans -- which is very unlikely to happen.

Grassley recently told citizens they "have every right to fear" health care reform, which he said would allow the government to "pull the plug" on grandmas. After delivering an angry Twitter message to the president about health care reform, Grassley explained his message and told CBS News that "this administration is scaring the people." Grassley has also said he would not vote for an "imperfect bill."

Democrats also appear to be pulling back from commitments to compromise.

Two senior House Democrats say a compromise reached with the moderate Blue Dogs over health care reform may be changed before the bill goes to the House floor for a vote, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In July, Democrats agreed to a Blue Dog request to require any government-run health insurance plan (or "public option") to negotiate its own payment rates to doctors and other medical providers, rather than paying rates based on Medicare.

Democrats have in recent weeks discussed the option of a passing a strictly partisan bill, though as the Los Angeles Times points out, Republicans and Democrats agree on a number of health reform elements, such as prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions, cutting insurance coverage off when a policyholder gets sick and imposing a lifetime cap on benefits.

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