Sen. Kennedy's grand finale
Kennedy secretly crafts health care plan
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
The Wilmington Times
October 24, 2008
From his sickbed, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has secretly been orchestrating meetings with lobbyists and lawmakers from both parties to craft legislation that would greet the new president with a plan to provide affordable medical coverage to all Americans, a measure he has called “the cause of my life.”
Among those who are receptive to a bipartisan plan and who have participated in the initial talks is Sen. Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, the ranking Republican on the Senate health committee, which Mr. Kennedy leads.
Mr. Kennedy’s goal, his aides say, is to introduce a universal health care bill as soon as the new Congress convenes next year and to push quickly for its passage - a much-accelerated timetable compared with the last time that a health care overhaul was on the agenda, at the start of the Clinton administration.
The wide-ranging talks have taken place behind closed doors on Capitol Hill and have been monitored by Mr. Kennedy through daily telephone updates from his staff, said his aides and several participants.
The discussions, which started in June, included 14 roundtable meetings in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. These were attended not only by Kennedy aides but also by staffers, both Republicans and Democrats, from the Senate committees with jurisdiction over health care. Those include the Budget Committee, the Finance Committee and the committee that Mr. Kennedy leads, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Also attending was the entire panoply of interest groups with stakes in the cost and availability of health coverage. These included the AFL-CIO, the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Retail Federation, the Federation of American Hospitals, the American Medical Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, Families USA, AARP and the Consumers Union.
The talks have managed to put in the same room interests that rarely meet - let alone agree with one another. No one is under the illusion that finding a compromise will be easy. Indeed, it remains unclear that a long-elusive consensus can be found. Participants agree, however, that Mr. Kennedy’s active role - particularly during his convalescence - have increased the likelihood of a breakthrough.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/24/kennedy-secretly-crafts-health-care-plan/
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Everyone has profound admiration for Sen. Edward Kennedy’s valiant effort to finally overcome the stubborn political barriers, and bring health care to everyone in the nation. At a time that the people are demanding reform, Sen. Kennedy is positioned to provide us with his grand finale - and what a great one that would be - health care for everyone.
But what a task he has. He is working with individuals and organizations that have rigid policy positions, which they demand be a part of any reform package. Many of these positions are absolutely incompatible with each other and could never be incorporated together in a legislative package. Most of these policy positions represent either special interests or simple ideology.
If this process is to work, all of these interests will have agree to policies that place the interests of patients above all else. The goal must be to establish a system in which everyone can receive all necessary health care without the necessity of facing financial hardship. We know how to do this. The policies are easy; the politics aren’t.
We pray that Sen. Kennedy can produce a grand finale in which all special interests realign themselves to support the only interest that really matters - the American patient.