Remember when it seemed like reform was a sure thing to pass the Congress? Well, now it’s far from certain to pass. Something dramatic is surely needed to address the impending unsustainable rise in health care costs. The Fed raised the base bank borrowing rate by ¼%, meaning the recession is really over, even if hiring hasn’t bounced back. But rising health care costs represent our dirty little problem -- Wellpoint put off their proposed 39% increase in individual rates under political duress (for only 2 months), and while Republicans are switching to tea parties, Democrats are going to need some powerful triple espressos to get through the next phase of health reform. 

While the upcoming (this week!) Obama ‘bipartisan’ health summit proposes to assemble the surly parties to compromise on a reform strategy, and, believe me, I’d love to see it happen, I’m not holding my breath. Nonetheless, Obama’s team was ordered to come up with a unique, simpler compromise bill -- and they say they have it. Supposedly it will cull the best elements of the House and Senate bills, and will be released Monday. 

But, given that Democrats have lost their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel met quietly yesterday to review the President’s ideas, AND to discuss how to use ‘budget reconciliation’ to pass a reform bill if Republicans will agree to nothing. Reconciliation can be used to speed the approval of legislation calling for tax cuts or increases or funding changes in programs like Medicare. A reconciliation bill needs only 51 votes to pass, and filibusters are limited. (The Alliance for Health Reform has a new toolkit on budget reconciliation if you are interested). Of course, some Republican leaders are saying they will boycott the summit unless the Dems will start over on reform -- meaning the President’s new bill may be a non-starter. The 'summit' is likely to be more a 'circus.' 

President Obama has been telling everybody that he would be willing to compromise with Republicans on their health priorities, including tort reform. The trial attorneys (American Association for Justice) are cautioning him against any hasty decisions on tort reform, or the 'party’s over' on their hefty funding of Dem campaigns. The Dems feel they must pass a reform bill, and the Republicans will do anything to block that. This looks to be tragically entertaining. This week will be interesting!

*** Image from Flickr (Suviko). *** 

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