by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright July 28, 2009
All Rights Reserved.

       Republicans hoping, like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-.S.C.), to derail President Barack Obama’s national health care plan won’t get their way, as moderate Republicans look to the future.  DeMint’s idea to torpedo Barack’s health care plan to improve fortunes in next year’s midterm election looks doomed as House “Blue Dog” Democrats finally resolved differences with Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  “We’re almost there,” said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a veteran GOP lawmaker involved in secret Senate negotiations.  Despite all the smoke-blowing from DeMint and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kt.), moderate Republicans understand that health care reform bodes well for the Republican Party.  House Blue Dogs saved billions in federal subsidies to low-income families.

            While despised by liberals, “Blue Dogs” held health care reform hostage until they got what they wanted, including exempting small businesses from subscribing to the government insurance plan.  Without knowing it, Blue Dogs mirrored the same objections as moderate Republicans, making the House’s final version more palatable to forward-thinking Republicans.  While there’s still some of the same opposition to national health care faced by former President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary in 1993, Republicans have begun to see the best path to resurrect the Party next year.  Despite warnings from conservatives, like radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, GOP moderates wish to share credit with progressive Democrats.  Barack, smartly, has made health care reform an integral piece to his recovery plan, now viewed, like tax cuts, as economic stimulus.

            Conservatives have tried but failed to torpedo health care reform as a socialist government takeover.  Too many Democrats and Republicans now view national health care as the best way to reign in runaway costs.  Opposition, now melting away, stemmed from mushrooming budget deficits.  Obama’s health care economists have demonstrated that national health care should be revenue neutral, considering employers would be paying premiums into government coffers.  Instead of decimating the private health market, private insurers now see a possible profit center, especially, like Medicare, offering HMO plans to vast numbers on businesses and individuals unable to afford the deductibles, co-pays and prescription drug coverage.  House Blue Dogs insisted that their negotiations saved the overall legislation $100 billion over 10 years, leaving the price tag at $900 billion.

            Speaking at a town hall meeting in North Carolina, Barack promised to include consumer protections to his health reform legislation, including banning exclusions for preexisting conditions.  He needs more guarantees than that, especially that patients—not plan administrators—can pick doctors of their choice.  Some have worried that Obama’s plan could turn into the industry’s biggest HMO farce, giving taxpayers insurance on paper only, letting bureaucracies to ration health care benefits, including paying providers at unacceptably low rates.  If Obama’s plan shortchanges doctors and hospitals, it’s going to be difficult to get most physicians and hospitals to sign on.  Rush and other I-told-you-so conservatives would cackle all the way to next year’s election knowing Barack’s plan is a costly boondoggle.  Getting any national health care plan won’t do unless it delivers quality care at affordable prices.

            Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mt.) and ranking member Sen. Grassley have been busy negotiating a compromise bill that taxes high-end insurance plans and reduces future Medicare costs.  Republicans also seek non-profit cooperatives in which to sell government insurance plans, giving the private insurance a way of making profit on a local, state and national level.  Democrats wanted direct government sales that would have competed with the private insurance market.  Competing against the government plan, the private sector will be forced to give more benefits at better prices. Industry officials have been quoted recently agreeing to end exclusions for preexisting conditions or the practice of rating up patients with diagnosable medical conditions.  Private insurers also get the chance of offering attractive HMO plans like they already do with Medicare.

            Fifteen-years after Bill and Hillary’s health care plan crashed and burned, Barack’s plan stands at the threshold of making history.  While the president didn’t get his August deadline, he’ll get a vote in the House and Senate sometime in September, if not before  “We’re hoping to get a bill out before we leave . . . this week,” said Waxman, pushing for a vote before the House’s summer recess.  “We did give them a deadline, and sort of we missed that deadline.  But that’s OK,” said Barack.  “We don’t want to just do it quickly, we want to do it right,” accepting the grueling process of grinding out national health care.  Conservatives looking to score cheap political points, like DeMint, only hurt the GOP by demonstrating the disconnect with mainstream voters.  With a bipartisan compromise closely at hand, conservatives must get with the program or risk more bad luck in 2010.

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.