Still No Deal On Health Care

Scurrying to revive their dying health reform bill on the eve of Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole’s departure, congressional Republicans hashed out a compromise Monday - but the plan ran into Democratic opposition.

The controversy appears to doom a bill that could have become the most sweeping health reform legislation in 30 years, although it was a mere shadow of reforms proposed by President Clinton in 1993.

The bill would make health coverage “portable,” letting millions of working Americans take their health insurance with them when they switch jobs, even if they have pre-existing conditions.

But the legislation has become mired in debate over a provision that would allow Americans to set aside money in tax-exempt medical savings accounts, a feature that critics, including Clinton, say would benefit only the healthy or wealthy.