I hope you all had a good Summer. A lot has happened during the past couple of months, but the focus continues to be on health care reform. So where are we? The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn explains what has happened over the past month or so:
The August recess began with critics attacking health care reform because of its high price tag. It ended with critics attacking health care reform because of how reformers proposed to reduce that high price tag. The intervening weeks were nightmarish: Instead of using August to showcase what reform could do for the average American, the White House spent most of its time knocking down rumors of death panels for the sick and elderly. And as the right became energized, the left grew disillusioned, as much by the administration’s backroom deals as by its ineffectual messaging. Eventually, the shift showed up in the polls. First people grew more wary of reform. Then they grew more wary of the president. It was if everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
Somehow, though, health reform is not dead. Despite all of the setbacks and all of the missed opportunities--despite this train wreck of a month--the situation remains remarkably similar to what it was before the recess.
Last week, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee (which is the last of five congressional committees that need to approve health care legislation before the topic can be taken up by both the full Senate and the full House of Representatives), Max Baucus, unveiled his long-awaited plan to remake the nation’s health care system and insure millions of Americans. The bill is generally in line with what President Obama requested, except that it does not include a new government insurance plan (the so-called public option) to compete with private insurers.
The full Senate Finance Committee now gets to offer their requested amendments to the bill. Senators have offered 564 amendments, and of course the Republican proposals generally gut the bill. However, one Republican, Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, is signaling that she may be willing to vote for the bill. Naturally, the Dems and the White House are wooing her.
In most polls, Americans are divided on whether to reform health care (although I'd guess most people have no idea what's in the bill). With support somewhat slipping (GOP scare tactics have been effective), Obama is currently on a media blitz to increase public support.
Many questions still remain. Will there be a public option in the final bill? Should employers be required to offer coverage? Should individuals be forced to buy it? And what should be the consequences if they don't?
We'll soon find out.
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