Missouri’s junior senator thinks there will be a healthcare reform bill passed this year, but not without some games of "political gotcha" during Senate debate.
The Senate Finance Committee has rejected two public option proposals but Senator McCaskill thinks the more moderate of the two could have a chance during floor debate. She says the moderate proposal offered by New York’s Charles Schumer could be added during debate by the full senate.
She expects partisan politics to color much of the debate, predicting so many "political posturing amendments" that the thought of them makes her head hurt.
She thinks the senate will spend a lot of time on affordability to make sure the final bill does not create an insurance plan that millions of people cannot afford., And she says the cost of the entire plan will be much-discussed.
McCaskill says numerous groups are trying to work together to find middle ground. And she doesn’t think special interests are as influential as they have been because much of the work is being done senator-to-senator.