Politico "analysis" - health care lobbyist says Obama needs Baucus bill to "save" health care

[villager]

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For months, if not years, health care advocates have drawn on lessons of the failed Clinton reform effort to argue for the need to pass a bill quickly. The theory was that, as time goes by, the president can lose political capital, see his poll numbers drop and find the debate mired in arcane turf battles.

There are still stark differences with 1993-94. Many industry groups with the deepest pockets remain on Obama’s side. The five House and Senate committee chairmen are working in the same direction. The voter backlash that could come from inaction is a very real possibility given the rising costs of health insurance.

But there are significant challenges as well: For Obama, one problem is that he lacks a single proposal to throw his weight behind, leaving him at the mercy of a messy legislative process jammed with competing plans. And, to close the deal with the public, Obama needs a clear policy prescription to sell, insiders say.

“The caboose is pulling the train. The message can’t pull the policy. It’s awfully hard to rally public support around policy that doesn’t exist yet,” said Mark Merritt, president of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. “What people have heard are the aspirations of health reform, and what they haven’t heard is what health reform is really going to look like and who’s going to pay for it.”

And going into summer recess without those answers is dangerous for reform supporters. August is shaping up to be a critical month for the effort, industry insiders said. Opponents of the House bill will continue to hammer away at it through advertising and grass-roots action, and Obama could be forced to maneuver without a cohesive policy to rally behind.

Obama’s last, best hope to weather the coming barrage is that the Senate Finance Committee releases a bipartisan bill that reduces costs, doesn’t increase the deficit and lacks middle-class tax hikes or a government-run insurance plan. In other words, Obama needs Baucus to introduce legislation that the industry won’t savage all month, said a health care lobbyist.

“There are two strikes. There’s one or two swings left in them, and that’s their home-run ball,” the lobbyist said of a potential bipartisan Finance Committee bill.

In the House, “when it’s ready” has become the new target for passing legislation, even though Democratic leaders are still pushing their members to complete work and vote on the bill before they leave town for the summer.

Clyburn told colleagues they should stay in Washington until they approve the bill, warning his fellow Democrats that they will be criticized for leaving town without its passage.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090724/pl_politico/25363

[MarjorieG]

1. This how they kill the public option? Or can Baucus omit it and have put in later?

I say this knowing Baucus doesn't want one altogether. Funny a lobbyist should be claiming doom or no public option.

Do the Dems fully know they're killing our chance, and maybe their jobs, with not having a plan in place to run with?