Health Care For America Now

The mainstream media has been speculating whether President Obama and Democrats will fail at reforming our hopelessly broken health care system since the reform process began. And they've been speculating whether that failure, like President Clinton's before it, will mean another election like 1994, which gave Republicans control of Congress for the first time in decades and curtailed the rest of Clinton's term. The latest in this storyline is a piece today in Politico from Carrie Budoff Brown and Chris Frates, complete with interviews from operatives around back then examining statements by Members of Congress that seem to say health care is moving to the back burner.

It's not 1994 all over again right now, but it could be if things go in a certain direction. What Ezra Klein said last week is true:

It is very, very, very important to be clear on what the death of health-care reform looks like. It is not a vote that goes against the Democrats. It is not an admission that the White House has moved on from the subject. It is continued statements of commitment from the key players paired with a continued stretching of the timetable. Like everything else in life, policy initiatives grow old and die, even if people still love them.

The danger is there, and the parallels of 1994 are an important warning. Things are different right now then they were. We don't have to go down that road again.

There are two main differences between today and 1994.

First, unlike 1994 where barely any health bill made it out of committee, both Houses of Congress have already passed comprehensive health care reform bills. Every Democratic Senator and almost every Democratic House member has already voted YES.

Democrats will have to run for re-election in November on health care whether they want to or not, because they've already taken the votes. If Democrats fail to complete the job, all that voters will remember are the lies and scare tactics. If Democrats finish the job, then voters will see start seeing real benefits and Democrats will have proven they can stand up to the powerful and delivered. It should be obvious which is the stronger electoral position.

Second, unlike 1994 where the various committees, not to mention Houses of Congress, couldn't agree on anything, the large contours of the House and Senate bills are similar. And the final bill that will pass will include needed improvements in Senate bill, within the common reform framework. If you look back at the proposals circulating among the various committees in 1994, you'll see the divergence of opinion was much greater than it is now.

One other key difference between 1994 and now: Democrats saw what happened when they failed to pass health care reform in the '90s. There is no doubt that the same thing could happen again if they fail to pass reform this time.

The path forward on reform is clear and straightforward: Fixes to the Senate bill should be passed using budget reconciliation. The Senate will use the budget reconciliation process to improve their bill with a majority vote. The House will pass the reconciliation bill with the improvements along with the bill that the Senate passed in December.

The only thing that could turn the current situation into 1994 is a lack of political will. It's up to leaders in Congress to build that political will, finish health reform right, and finish it now.