Why Congress May Be Ready to Reform Health Care

The U.S. economy is a mess, but it might provide a real opportunity for Congress to enact significant health care reform, according to two former Clinton administration health care experts.

Speaking to the annual scientific meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, held near Washington, D.C., Judy Feder, a Georgetown University public policy professor and a promoter of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s failed health care program, and Chris Jennings, owner of a health policy and advocacy consulting firm and a former White House senior health care adviser, both acknowledged obstacles to health reform in 2009. They agreed that there was a lack of available government funds, a polarized Congress and little programmatic detail from President-elect Barack Obama during the campaign.

But those issues may not be insurmountable.

“The demand for protection goes up when we have a recession, the [available] dollars go down,” said Feder, an unsuccessful Democratic congressional candidate in Northern Virginia this year. “But now the need to spend and invest in health care for every American—powerful investment—there is a very real silver lining.”

Both she and Jennings pointed to Obama’s statements that he will prepare an economic stimulus package focusing on investment as a positive for health care reform.

Obama has said that “extraordinary challenges sometimes yield extraordinary opportunities,” said John Rother, AARP director of policy and strategy, who moderated the session. Although voters expect change, particularly in health care, Rother said, “It’s fair to say we’ve had little discussion so far as far as some of the tougher tradeoffs—particularly how to pay for it.”

Jennings offered a list of reasons in favor of meaningful health reform this year, including economists’ assertion that controlling the nation’s financial trouble requires getting a handle on health care spending. In addition, he said, the business community, doctors, hospitals and insurance companies are ready for health care reform; there’s now a prevailing belief that excess spending on health care doesn’t improve results; there’s increased understanding that care for uninsured Americans shifts costs to those who have insurance; there’s bipartisan support in Congress for some sort of reform; and the lessons learned from the 1993-94 attempt at health reform still resonate.

There are signs that action is brewing on Capitol Hill. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has unveiled a 104-page health care reform blueprint. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., long a universal care proponent, has convened meetings on the subject. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Bob Bennett, R-Utah, are working on a bipartisan plan for health reform. Divided We Fail, a coalition of business executives, consumer advocates and unions representing 53 million members, has launched a $1 million advertising campaign to pressure for reform.

Jennings quoted Winston Churchill: “Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing … after they have exhausted all other possibilities.”

“We must be pretty close,” Jennings said.

See Also:
• Social Security: A Challenge for Obama
• Fixing Health Care: What Role Will Medicare Play?
• Older Americans Go Back to Work–If They Can Find a Job
• What Do You Have to Give to Your Country Now?

Elaine S. Povich is a freelance writer who covers politics.