South Dakota's two U.S. senators are standing firm on opposite sides of a philosophical divide as a key vote nears on President Barack Obama's plan for health care reform.

Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson and Republican Sen. John Thune seem unlikely to budge from party-line positions on a Senate version of health care reform expected to be voted on this week by the Senate Finance Committee.

Neither South Dakota senator sits on the committee, but both watch it closely, because the bill it shapes will be on the Senate floor for action in coming weeks.

Johnson supports the plan developed through the leadership of Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. Thune opposes it.

Both South Dakotans expect the bill to come out of committee, despite reservations by some of its Democratic members. If it does, there will still be little room for discontent. There are 60 Senate Democrats and supportive independents, the exact number of votes needed to get past a Republican filibuster.

That's why the vote of each senator is so important.

"I think they can get the 60, but I'd be very surprised unless something changes in the bill to see more than that," Thune said. "The Democrats will have to hang on to everybody, or lose one and get Snowe."

Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe has been supportive of some Democratic reform efforts.

Johnson believes Democrats can hold on to their filibuster-proof 60 votes.

"But it will be close," he said.

The Finance Committee is trying to blend its bill with a more liberal Senate Health Committee version that includes a controversial public-insurance option. There's no such option in the Baucus bill, although Thune expects another push to insert one.

"The public option is still out there," he said. "There's so much pressure to put it back in, I think somebody will try."

Thune is especially firm on his opposition to a government-insurance option that he said would unfairly compete with private business and grow to monstrous proportions. Johnson thinks such concerns are overblown and supports the principle of a public-insurance option. But he also thinks its chances of passage this fall are slim.

Each passing day puts more pressure on members of the Senate Finance Committee, and Thune said it shows. He cited an example where five Democratic members joined the Republicans on the committee in voting down a specific amendment.

"I think that is a sign of what people in the United States Senate are hearing from their constituents," he said.

South Dakota's Republican Gov. Mike Rounds estimates the Baucus bill would add 15 percent to insurance premiums in South Dakota, according to Thune.

"That's not the type of reform that most South Dakotans I see or hear from would want to see or be willing to support," he said.

It's possible to make insurance more affordable and more inclusive without expanding government and further enlarging the national debt, Thune said.

The public option still waits to be fought over in a House version of health care reform. Some House Democrats have threatened to fight passage of bill that doesn't include a public option. A health insurance exchange providing more private insurance options is a prominent alternative. Also mentioned is a trigger mechanism that would impose a public option if the private insurances plans don't work.

Johnson thinks those ideas are worth considering in a search for compromise.

"It will be a hard sell," he said. "But if that's the only way we can do health reform, I think it will pass the House. Better a half loaf than nothing."

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com