Dana Blankenhorn (ZDNet):Yesterday’s photo op of business and insurance leaders meeting on the President’s health reform proposal set off a panic among reform opponents.
With big business and the insurance industry now seemingly on the other side, conservatives must hope a public campaign aimed at doctors and patients can be a game-changer.
They are also looking to gaffes by proponents for traction. Anything said in negotiation can be turned into a daily outrage, and it’s this outrage that killed the 1993 Clinton plan. The simplest statements, like y’all need to lose weight, can be seized upon.
The worst news for opponents, however, may be that liberal publishers and interest groups are not acting like they’ve won. They’re acting more like they got an early touchdown but remain underdogs.
And the grassroots anger reform opponents are trying to generate seems tame compared with the real anger of single payer advocates, who feel shut out of the discussion. (Maybe Canada can answer for them.)
There are also additional cards the Obama people can play to further reduce the opponents’ numbers. Malpractice reform, for instance.
The key question in the debate remains the one I identified in March, whether there will be a public option.
The present coalition behind Obama is based on the self-interest of major players in the health care game — insurers, suppliers and big customers. Allowing consumers to buy into something like Medicare will change the game by creating public-private competition.
Howard Dean identified this again on the TV last night. Reform without a public option “is not real reform,” he said, just a new arrangement of the Titanic’s deck chairs. Only a public option will create real competition with the private sector needed to achieve cost containment goals, he feels.
The key to whether “real” reform happens then may lie in the efforts of Sen. Chuck Schumer to allow creation of a public plan without allowing it to roll private industry. If both Dean and insurance carriers agree on what he comes up with, it could be game over.
Otherwise we’ll see you here again in 2023.
Barack Obama
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