Jon Cohn's Road Map To Health Care Paradise

Ezra is resting and points us to Jon Cohn's optimistic scenario for how health care reform could pass. Quick notes:

-The description from Senate staffers seems ambiguous between the Edwards/Clinton plan and the Obama plan, though I guess it could be something else too: "People who like their insurance could keep it; others could buy coverage through a cooperative, like the one federal employees use, in which insurers couldn't exclude people with pre-existing conditions. There would be subsidies, so that everybody could afford a plan, plus serious efforts to restrain future growth in health spending so that the actual price of insurance would start to come down."

-Senate Finance chair Max Baucus seems inclined to use his power to get it through filibuster-free through budget reconciliation.

-In 1994, the Congressional Budget Office was in the hands of a dude who didn't think universal health care would save money. Now it's in the hands of Peter Orszag, who is rightly "convinced that skyrocketing medical expenses will eventually drag down the country's living standards."

-Rahm Emanuel has argued in favor of more expansive bills in the past, saying that they "give sponsors more opportunities to trade component pieces as part of the negotiation process."

Comments

[Nate]

"People who like their insurance could keep it; others could buy coverage through a cooperative, like the one federal employees use, in which insurers couldn't exclude people with pre-existing conditions."

Interesting that this very bill has been introduced into congress every year for the past 15 years and Democrats have blocked it to protect Unions.

See "Small Business Health Fairness Act" (H.R. 525, S. 406)

Everyone has known for over a decade this is a solution to ur problem but the Democrats where more concerned about protecting their Union allys. Unions have an advantage over small employers becuase they can pull resurces and form Taft Hartley Trust, these have unquestionably been effective at keeping cost down and allowing Unions to offer high levels of benefits affordably. If small employers could ban together and do this without the Union they would remove one of the oncentives to unionize. Democrats would rather the nation suffer from high insurance rates and individuals go without insurance then disadvantage their constituency.

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=37160

Capitol Hill Watch | Association Health Plan Bill Advances in Senate; Democrats Say They Have Not Ruled Out a Filibuster
[May 10, 2006]

According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, the bill would benefit most small businesses but not all. CBO said about 25% of employees would face higher premiums and 700,000 uninsured people would gain private coverage. However, about 100,000 who are now covered would lose their insurance, CBO said