Only Time Will Tell If Obama Can End Health Reform Stalemate
In 1993, President Bill Clinton began a health reform process that he hoped would expand coverage to many of the nation’s uninsured. He said that his proposal would reduce health costs, increase our health security and preserve Americans’ choice of medical providers. Nearly a year later, Clinton’s effort to pass comprehensive health reform had ended. It had fallen prey to a number of outside factors, including a significant lack of public support for his agenda.
Today, more than 15 years later, another Democratic President is launching an effort to overhaul the US health system. Today, during a white house conference on health reform attended by politicians, health industry insiders and others, President Obama said:
“In this [health] effort, every voice has to be heard. Every idea must be considered. Every option must be on the table. There should be no sacred cows. Each of us must accept that none of us will get everything that we want, and that no proposal for reform will be perfect. If that’s the measure, we will never get anything done. But when it comes to addressing our health care challenge, we can no longer let the perfect be the enemy of the essential.”
Obama has also taken steps to build momentum for reform by increasing funding for the children’s health insurance program (SHICP) and allocating money in the federal budget for a new health insurance scheme. By focusing on the costs for a program first, he has removed one major objection to reform.
However, by saying that he wants to get “something” done rather than insisting that a reform bill be perfect he is clearly willing to undergo a process of give and take with others in an effort to solve the problem of the uninsured. Nearly everyone agrees that we need to do more to increase the ranks of the insured. What we disagree on is how to do it.
One thing is certain, Obama is a very popular president who has already shown great ability to mobilize a grassroots army in support of his proposals. I’m looking forward to seeing how he and his advisors use them.
Image Source: HealthReform.gov
