The latest from DTC Perspectives

Wow! Brown and Health Reform

The tsunami of independent voter discontent evident with the last three elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and in this week’s Scott Brown Massachusetts win means major reconsideration of health care reform. I have called for reform and meaningful reform. We must not let our citizens go broke paying for health care. We must not deny care to people with existing problems. We must not let insurance companies use the practice of rescission because someone forgot to report a minor past health detail when they applied.

All these things can be done and should be done with a strong bi-partisan consensus vote. Republicans must understand that doing nothing is unacceptable to the majority of Americans. On the other hand a Democrat led only bill was also unacceptable to the American people who know that government cost figures are always suspect. Few believed that the current bill would solve their cost problems.

My health plan wish list would allow anyone to get free preventive and emergency care at government subsidized clinics. It would allow national competition for health insurance. It would reform malpractice insurance. It would require portability of health insurance from job to job. It would require full fee disclosure from doctors and hospitals so consumers can decide if co-pays are worth it. We need to be sensible and solve the problem with as little government involvement as possible.

The Brown win will convince most moderates to back off the current plan no matter how much pressure Obama puts on Congress. These moderates know the Massachusetts vote is a referendum on discontent with health reform and other issues. Ignoring Massachusetts would be political suicide for Democrats. If they were smart they would vote out Pelosi and Reid and replace them with more centrist leaders. The infuriating negotiations which led to sweetheart payments to several states to buy their votes were the final nails in the coffin. Americans know politics is messy but they thought we were getting a new process where reasonable people in Congress would do what is best for the people. Instead we got complexity and pork. More of the same was what we got.

I want reform and want it this year. How about letting the centrists develop a plan that can get 75% of the votes in the Senate and House? There is wide agreement on what is bad about the current system. The problems can be solved. Obama was elected to change the process. Here is another opportunity to prove he is the transformative President. To do that he must insist that a bi-partisan bill is required rather than a one party plan. That means he must lead and inspire legislators. Change we can believe in must be made a reality.