Jamie Dupree

Filling In The Health Details

By
Jamie Dupree
@ June 15, 2009 12:00 AM
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Democrats in the Congress are starting to confront their legislative demons in the debate on health care, as they try to fill in the blanks on what their reform plan will do and most importantly - how to pay for it.

Key Democrats in both the House and Senate will unveil their detailed ideas in coming days. In the House, it will include some $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, along with $600 billion in tax hikes.

That makes for a $1 trillion reform bill, which some say is on the low end of how much it would cost over the next decade.

While critics of the bill are certain to harp on the expected complexity of the program, and the idea of the government competing against private insurance companies, the tax increase side is certain to generate most of the political angst.

Today's health care highlight comes on the road in Chicago, as President Obama speaks to the American Medical Association.

Fifteen years ago, the AMA helped lead the opposition to the Clinton health care reform effort, which ultimately doomed that legislation.

The White House thought they had gotten the AMA into their camp earlier this year, but that seems to be a longshot.

"When it comes to the cost of health care, this much is clear: the status quo is unsustainable for families, businesses, and government," President Obama said in his Saturday radio address.

"We cannot continue down this path."

That may well be true, but right now, the White House isn't going to find a bipartisan compromise with the plans that the Obama Administration is pushing, especially the idea of a public, government-backed insurance plan, which is a complete non-starter for Republicans in the Congress.

One other wildcard right now is that the Congressional Budget Office will soon issue a review of various health care plans and how much they would cost.

If it is more than the White House has assumed, look for the White House to argue that the budget numbers of the Administration should be followed, yet another flashpoint for this battle.

It should be an interesting next two weeks of maneuvering on health care, as Democrats try to get a bill through key House and Senate committees.



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