Two days before Obama's televised health summit with Republicans and Democrats, the prospects for any bipartisan deal dimmed as the administration set the stage for pushing ahead with only Democratic support, a risky move that would require the president's political capital and elusive unity from a fractious party.
Obama's new plan used legislation already passed by the Senate as its starting point, making changes designed to appeal to House Democrats. He unveiled it Monday almost exactly a year after calling on Congress to act to reform the nation's costly an inefficient health care system. Majority Democrats were on the verge of meeting the challenge before Republican Scott Brown's upset win in a Massachusetts Senate seat last month.
Brown's win underscored the perilous political environment for Democrats in an election year, but Obama didn't scale back his ambitions, opting for one last attempt at full-scale legislation. It costs around $1 trillion over a decade, requires nearly everyone to be insured or pay a fine, and puts new requirements on insurance companies, including — in a new twist responding to recent rate hikes — giving the federal government authority to block big premium increases.
If Obama fails on a comprehensive health care overhaul where Bill Clinton and other presidents failed before him, the chance won't come around again anytime soon.
The whole endeavor will now rise or fall on Obama's ability to sell his plan at the summit Thursday, and the reaction from lawmakers and the public in the days ahead.
SOURCE: Associated Press > Yahoo News
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Health Care Dynamic
It would be nice to think that both sides could sit down together and negotiate, but there sure aren't many signs of that right now.
"President Obama unveiled today is just more of the same government-run insurance, mandates and taxes the American people have overwhelmingly rejected," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN).
"Republicans say they support health reform, but the only ideas they've put forward involve privatizing Medicare and Social Security or giving more power to the insurance and drug industries," countered Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
Both sides have their talking points, but it may be that health care compromise is a bridge too far.
Which means maybe the only way for something to get done is if Democrats go it alone.
And they may not have the votes for that either.
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
"President Obama unveiled today is just more of the same government-run insurance, mandates and taxes the American people have overwhelmingly rejected," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN).
"Republicans say they support health reform, but the only ideas they've put forward involve privatizing Medicare and Social Security or giving more power to the insurance and drug industries," countered Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
Both sides have their talking points, but it may be that health care compromise is a bridge too far.
Which means maybe the only way for something to get done is if Democrats go it alone.
And they may not have the votes for that either.
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
Obama Health Details
There were so many people wanting to know how much this new bill would cost that the Congressional Budget Office took the odd step of posting a response on its web site.
The CBO did not know.
"We had not previously received the proposal, and we have just begun the process of reviewing it -- a process that will take some time, given the complexity of the issues involved," said the CBO statement, which added that a lot more information was needed from the White House.
"Therefore, CBO cannot provide a cost estimate for the proposal without additional detail, and, even if such detail were provided, analyzing the proposal would be a time-consuming process that could not be completed this week."
In other words, Democrats will go to the Health Care Summit with a plan that has no exact cost estimate.
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
The CBO did not know.
"We had not previously received the proposal, and we have just begun the process of reviewing it -- a process that will take some time, given the complexity of the issues involved," said the CBO statement, which added that a lot more information was needed from the White House.
"Therefore, CBO cannot provide a cost estimate for the proposal without additional detail, and, even if such detail were provided, analyzing the proposal would be a time-consuming process that could not be completed this week."
In other words, Democrats will go to the Health Care Summit with a plan that has no exact cost estimate.
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
Stupak: President's Health Care Bill is "Unacceptable"
In a statement out this morning, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., has addressed the issue of publicly financed abortions included in the president's health care proposal:
SOURCE: TownHall blog
I was pleased to see that President Obama’s health care proposal did not include several of the sweetheart deals provided to select states in the Senate bill. Unfortunately, the President's proposal encompasses the Senate language allowing public funding of abortion. The Senate language is a significant departure from current law and is unacceptable. While the President has laid out a health care proposal that brings us closer to resolving our differences, there is still work to be done before Congress can pass comprehensive health care reform.
SOURCE: TownHall blog
White House: If GOP Filibusters, We’ll Pass Health Reform Via Reconciliation
The game of chicken commenceth — right now.
In the course of unveiling Obama’s new health reform proposal on a conference call with reporters this morning, White House advisers made it clearer than ever before: If the GOP filibusters health reform, Dems will move forward on their own and pass it via reconciliation.
The assertion, which is likely to spark an angry response from GOP leaders, ups the stakes in advance of the summit by essentially daring Republicans to try to block reform.
“The President expects and believes the American people deserve an up or down vote on health reform,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said on the call.
Pfeiffer said no decision had been made how to proceed, pending the outcome of the summit. But he added that Obama’s proposal is designed to have “maximum flexibility to ensure that we can get an up or down vote if the opposition decides to take the extraordinary step of filibustering health reform.”
Translation: If the GOP doesn’t cooperate with us in any meaningful sense, we’re moving forward on our own.
SOURCE: Plumline
In the course of unveiling Obama’s new health reform proposal on a conference call with reporters this morning, White House advisers made it clearer than ever before: If the GOP filibusters health reform, Dems will move forward on their own and pass it via reconciliation.
The assertion, which is likely to spark an angry response from GOP leaders, ups the stakes in advance of the summit by essentially daring Republicans to try to block reform.
“The President expects and believes the American people deserve an up or down vote on health reform,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said on the call.
Pfeiffer said no decision had been made how to proceed, pending the outcome of the summit. But he added that Obama’s proposal is designed to have “maximum flexibility to ensure that we can get an up or down vote if the opposition decides to take the extraordinary step of filibustering health reform.”
Translation: If the GOP doesn’t cooperate with us in any meaningful sense, we’re moving forward on our own.
SOURCE: Plumline
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