**Updated** Healthcare Reform Whether You Want it or Not

This CQ article goes into greater detail on the procedural process ahead for the Senate healthcare reform bill. The trillion dollar question is whether the last few moderate Democrats will maintain their support for the bill this week. We're talking primarily about Nebraska's Ben Nelson, Virginia's Jim Webb, and Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln.

Despite steadily decreasing popular support for the proposed healthcare reform legislation, the Senate pressed ahead anyway over the weekend culminating in a key procedural vote early this morning to cut off debate on HR 3590, the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". This WSJ piece does a nice job of outlining what the Senate bill would and would not do, as well as projecting what the pending conference with the House-passed bill is likely to produce. HARDI will undoubtedly have to spend some consirable time over the next month parsing out in detail what the final reforms will mean to employers, employees, and taxpayers in general.