Obama presses health-care circuit breaker
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday September 5, 2009
THE White House hopes a trigger that would allow the government to offer health insurance to many Americans will break the logjam on health-care legislation.Under a trigger, private insurance companies would be told to meet benchmarks for improving the health system, such as insuring more Americans and reducing health-care costs. If they failed to do so by a deadline, the government would set up its own insurance program.The plan might win over moderate Republican and wavering Democratic senators, who do not want to give the government blanket authorisation to enter the insurance market and compete with private companies. At the same time, the President, Barack Obama, could claim he has not abandoned the prospect of a government-run plan, also called a public option, which liberals contend is needed to inject competition into the insurance industry."This is the best shot we've got for getting a public option," said one House Democratic adviser. "It's better than nothing."The proposal has become a central point in negotiations between Mr Obama's staff and Senator Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican.If Senator Snowe were to support a health-care overhaul bill, she potentially could bring a patina of bipartisanship to the measure, providing political cover to other moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats who have withheld their support.Talks between the White House and Senator Snowe have focused on what would set off the trigger. Republicans are concerned that the bar would be set so high for private insurers that a government-run program would prove inevitable.Mr Obama's position is that a government-run plan is needed, but he has signalled that he is flexible on this front. Having invested so much political capital in the health-care fight, he does not seem prepared to see the effort collapse because of wrangling over the public insurance option.The President's decision to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday has raised the stakes in the health-care fight.Cobbling together enough votes to pass a health-care bill is a tricky matter. Taking positions attractive to one bloc of lawmakers risks alienating another. Many Democrats say they will not vote for a bill unless it creates the government-run program right away."I will support nothing short of a robust public health insurance plan upon implementation €“ no triggers," said Representative Jan Schakowsky,a Democrat."I believe Congress will pass and the President will sign such a bill this fall."The Democratic senator Barbara Boxer cited the high salaries of health insurance executives and rising premiums as reasons for adopting a public plan without delay. Giving insurers a chance to prove themselves was a waste of time, she said."I support a public-interest option now because we already know the problem," Senator Boxer said. "We don't need to test out the insurance companies. We've tested them out for years."Los Angeles Times
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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