"No single development appeared likely to kill Obama's signature domestic agenda item, but the relentless barrage of challenges that seemed to hit hourly served to demonstrate why no president since Lyndon B. Johnson has been able to enact large-scale health legislation." - Washington Post, 7/9/2009
-----
Today's Washington Post has an article worth a read: Discord on Health Care Dulls Luster Of New Pacts / Allies Sour on Effort as Obama Woos Industry. It follows on the heels of yesterday's Biden announcement of hospital groups agreeing to contribute $155 billion to the cost of health reform. There was, apparently, some discord:
Two public hospital systems left out of the talks suggested the reductions "could severely damage" hospitals that serve the poor. American Hospital Association representatives from Virginia, Wisconsin, Montana, Washington and Oregon also were raising objections internally to the deal's across-the-board Medicare cuts.
"Everyone can say we need to reform the system," said one state hospital official, who requested anonymity to discuss the internal rift. "But when you start to look at the details of how you do that, that's when you get the rats scurrying off the ship. That's what's happening now."
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), after warning that some Democrats cannot tolerate taxes on employer-sponsored health benefits to finance comprehensive reform, met with four Republican senators in pursuit of a bipartisan approach.
Reid assured the group that the Senate legislation would not be rushed, said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).
More:
The administration had expected a good-news bump yesterday from Biden's event with the hospitals. But several state hospital lobbyists formed the "Value Coalition" to push back against a one-size-fits-all deal. In a document distributed to the 50 state associations that make up the American Hospital Association, the group argues for a different approach."America's hospitals and the communities they serve are very concerned about any proposal that relies on payment cuts as the primary means by which to fund reform efforts," the document says. Instead, it argues for an "incentive" system that rewards -- not penalizes -- hospitals that have already cut costs.
That proposal was hotly discussed by state association leaders during a 5 p.m. conference call on Tuesday, according to a participant. The coalition plans to go public with its objections soon.
The article includes further discussion on the "deep dissension on several fronts within Democratic ranks and possible defections among key constituencies." (The "not rushed" comment seems a little hard to believe at this point.)
