I wonder if Senate Democrats would have thought, going in, that conservative Democrats would end up the biggest impediment to enacting health care reform. As it's turned out, Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, Evan Bayh and, especially, Joe Lieberman, all appear determined to kill the Senate health care bill.
...on Sunday, Mr. Lieberman told the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, to scrap the idea of expanding Medicare and abandon any new government insurance plan or lose his vote.A Senate Democratic aide, perplexed by Mr. Lieberman’s stance, said, “It was a total flip-flop, and leaves us in a predicament as to what to do.” (Link)
Once again, the bare bones goals of the reform was to expand coverage and lower costs. The fact is, you can't do one without the other. Private insurers (or government insurers) need lots of newly insured to spread risk and lower cost and lowering costs results in attracting lots of newly insured.
I don't care how Congress wants to get there or what they want to call it; public option, Medicare For All, whatever. But it looks more and more like whatever comes out of the Senate will, at best, just nibble around the edges of the problems with our health care system. The result will be reform in name only - showing up on 2010 Democrats campaign posters but clear to everyone it's still a busted system with a couple expensive bandaids.
Maybe if Senate Democrats promised to name the bill the Joe Lieberman Health Care Reform Act the egomaniacal senator from Connecticut would sign on.
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