Will Bi-Partisan Team Save Healthcare Reform?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Democrats, Health Care, RepublicansThe whispers around Washington is that healthcare reform is in trouble.
Even liberal blogger Ezra Klein is now scaling back his expectations and characterizing any progress as a good step forward…
It is one of the paradoxes of the legislative process that something that is substantively quite timid can also be quite bold. This version of health reform is far from what the country needs. It is far from what any health-care experts would develop left to their own devices. But it is still a monumental initiative and, if passed, it would be the most significant step forward since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid.
And let’s not forget the emergence of the plan by Daschle and Dole, which, intentional or not, cast Congress’ current efforts in a decidedly partisan light.
Now a team of Democratic and Republican Senators are banding together to make sure this thing doesn’t die yet again.
Seven senators have formed a bipartisan group to find consensus on health-care reform legislation, a sign of fresh momentum after a week of setbacks.The group, dubbed by its members as the “Coalition of the Willing,” includes Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the ranking Republican on the panel, Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa). Others who attended the first meeting this afternoon in the Capitol included Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), and GOP Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah), Olympia Snowe (Maine), and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), the ranking minority member of the Senate health committee.
The finance panel aims to produce a bill with a total price tag of under $1 trillion over 10 years. Baucus said the legislation could be unveiled next week, although the committee is not expected to begin formal debate until after the July 4 recess. Baucus had aimed to start deliberations on Tuesday. But he announced yesterday that lawmakers needed additional time to digest a complex menu of provisions.
Note that Kent Conrad is in that group, and his co-op idea has been picking up supporters in Congress and elsewhere.
My gut tells me that the final plan that will get passed is some variation of Conrad’s co-op, mixed with the Daschle/Dole state run plan. That way the appearance of the federal government running everything is minimized, even though it would still be funding most of it.
More as it develops…
This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 and is filed under Democrats, Health Care, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
It appears that the budget deficit scared the Democrats and even the White House that now they have to come up with a Health Care Plan that is under a trillion dollars. Now, all the fuss that the American people about the deficit could end up bitting them in the rear because they might not get the Health Care that they want.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Health Care reform is so ambitious. I don’t get why Medicare can’t drive cost containment by itself. Doesn’t it pay out 40% of all health bills in US already? Without cost containment, anything to simply expand coverage will simply hasten bankruptcy of US government.
June 19th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
They are not trying to save healthcare–they are gutless puppets of the insurance and medical supply and drug companies and medical associations trying to mollify a public that is 70+ percent in favor of a single payer system
I wouldn’t cast Tully’s vote for these cowards
June 19th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Careful about your stats, gerry ;)
June 19th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Now gerry, please quit beating around the bush and tell us how you really feel. :-)
But do you realize how much trouble health care reform is in? You’re starting to see it slip away yet again. True, their solution may not be the best, but sweeping, transformative change may not be possible this time around. That doesn’t make anybody gutless.
June 19th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
By my last count, there are 59 democrat senators and a supermajority of democrat congressmen, correct?
You can’t blame the republican party for this one this time. Its those “blue dogs” and those gutless puppets of the insurance and medical supply and drug companies and medical associations who are democrats.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Health care reform that will actually do anything positive for our country is already dead. All that will be passed is something that will barely make a dent in the problem and give a lot of politicians cover on the issue. It’s a shame.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
ok, 76 percent support a PUBLIC OPTION (I was excited)
And Jhimmy, it always scares me when we agree. We cannot blame the GOP (although personally I would like them to be realistic players in the debate so we get a better plan)
June 19th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
If you settle for the lesser of two evils, it’s still evil. Democrats are gutless. If they don’t get it done now, it will never happen. They should then never talk about it again unless they develop a spine and plan to follow through. This is 90% on the Democrats.
June 20th, 2009 at 3:49 am
Ok… people come from Canada… to get surgeries done ….b/c they have the same health care …..that the blue state want to push thru….what if it was you that needed a surgery ….and they told you …well….your on the “wait” list …..and if you make it good ….if not ….good …whats wrong with the health care we have >? we have Great Doctors …we choose when to see them …. and you want the Government to tell you when you can and cant see a Doctor>? OOOh Yess ….that is what we need….
Buncha whinners
June 20th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
n/a — your initial point is of course valid, and that sentiment is always present as part of the counter-arguement to any sort of public health care system. However, to your second point – don’t you see that RIGHT NOW we have people telling us when we can see a doctor (and what doctor we can see)? And that those people (the health insurance industry) can drop our coverage anytime they want? And let’s not kid ourselves – no matter what, people who make a boatload of money will ALWAYS be able to get any surgery done any time, any place, and by any person they want.
And let’s not kid ourselves that we aren’t ALREADY paying for those who have no health insurance — it’s called the emergency room. And this will continue to be the case under the present system — unless of course one supports the notion of simply not administering care to those who arrive at the emergency room without health insurance. That’s a morally bankrupt notion in my opinion, but at least it’s an intellectually honest one in defense of keeping the health care system the way it is now.
And the “whiner” crack is ridiculous — depending upon the position of an issue one is on, anyone commenting to the contrary could easily be labeled a whiner (that is to say — hey n/a, stop whining about how we shouldn’t change the health care system). To your logic, anyone commenting on any blog or website anywhere is a whiner, including me and you and the rest of the Donklephant whiners.