Ten months of effort was blown away yesterday by an unprecedented electoral upset, a most unlikely end to health reform.
Yes, I did mean to write ‘end to health reform’. This afternoon the Senate Democratic caucus is meeting to figure out what to do next, but the outcome was pre-ordained when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced earlier today that nothing would be done on health reform until Senator-Elect Brown (R MA) is seated.
Which means nothing will be done this year.
That doesn’t mean health reform won’t happen at all, but the ‘health reform hangover’ makes it very unlikely anyone will eagerly jump into reform anytime soon.
I’ll admit to being conflicted over the demise of reform. Covering another 30 million Americans would have been good progress towards addressing one of our country’s greatest shortcomings. But the cost of that expansion, the lack of any meaningful cost controls or an enforceable mandate, and the political thievery committed by key swing Senators selling their votes (I mean you, Nelson of NE, Lieberman of CT, and Landrieu of LA) made for a Senate bill just a whit better than no bill at all.
The House bill was better, except for the unfounded belief in the public option; at least it had a better mandate provision.
But the cost reported for both was too low by a quarter trillion, as neither included the cost of reforming Medicare physician reimbursement.
What happened?
The Dems could have had a bill last July, but liberal Senators refused to compromise, convincing Reid they could win without any GOP votes. This forced the more intelligent and intelligible Republican Senators to jump on the death panel/rationing bandwagon. Sure, the compromise necessary to get a bill with at least a few Republicans on board would have been a higher Cadillac tax, lower cuts to Medicare Advantage, and no public option, but a bipartisan bill would have been a huge win for both the Dems and the President.
Instead, we’re left with a wasted year.
What does this mean for you?
Without health reform, we’re looking at family premiums over $30,000 by the end of the teens. Good luck with that.
That’s not to say the House or Senate bill would have made much difference.
Jan
20
According to a report on NPR yesterday evening, the DEM winning the Mass. seat was “Plan A”, but they also have Plans “B”, “C” and “D”. Don’t count the health bill out yet! An unexpected benefit of this bill is that we’re all learning more about Congress works.
Ann – Dont bet on plan b c or d. one is reconciliation, another calls for the house to pass the senate bill, and the third calls for brown to be seated after the vote.
the worst form of government except for all the others indeed.
Unfortunately what has happened is they become more focused on getting this thing passed within the first year than creating an effective bill. It would do us all well to have everyone go back to the drawing board and focus on developing a bill that will do what is needed without bankrupting the country.
I congratulate the people of Massachusetts for their wisdom in not falling prey to the “Kennedy Legacy” and voting Sen. Elect Brown into office. Their wisdom yet again sets the course for the US Government to fall back to tried and true principals of government that will allow capitalism to flourish while killing this badly conceived “reform” bill. Perhaps now we can find a way to make affordable healthcare possible without socializing the entire industry in the process.
Dorrence – how, pray tell, does a bill without a public option, that enables private industry to compete on a fair basis for customers, qualify as ‘socialism’? Do you not understand the definition of ‘socialism’?
Was Part D socialism? If so, then it was passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by a Republican president. If not, then neither is the Senate reform bill.
Please abandon the meaningless memes. We will only “find a way to make affordable healthcare possible” if participants stop using red-flag words to scare and misinform.
Paduda