Healthcare Reform Post-Mortem: What Obama Must Learn from the Victory

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5729/healthcare_reform_post-mortem_what_obama_must_learn_from_the_victory/

Tuesday March 23 10:16 am

By Roger Bybee

Thanks to the last-minute efforts of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first national health plan is being signed into law today.

One of labor's most sought-after goals has been achieved, however imperfectly, after nearly a century of effort. Labor played a central role in developing and funding coalitions, mobilizing the foot soldiers at rallies around the nation, and lobbying effectively to move some conservative Democrats into the "yes" column.

Moreover, the victory also showed the potential for transforming the nation if President Obama gives up his naïve illusions of winning over Republicans and instead uses his considerable skills to fire up the public against the special interests blocking reform on job creation, cleaning up Wall Street and global warming, to name just three issues.

If Obama approaches the urgent need for job creation programs with the same fire and determination he did in the final stage of the healthcare battle, the labor movement will finally have the activist partner in the White House in whom it invested so many hopes and so much effort.

PLAN'S COMPLEXITY ALLOWED REPUBLICANS TO LABEL IT

But as move forward, we need to frankly acknowledge that the healthcare reform plan lost popularity in recent months because its complexity made it an easy target for absurd Republican and rightist caricatures ("a government takeover," "death panels," etc.) Few people could understand the plan, so the Republicans were able to come up with their own descriptions and make them stick. Also, the dropping of the popular public option cost the reform plan popularity.

Still, the bill has a number of important positive features that will make a difference in people's lives: the elimination of "pre-existing condition"; forbidding "recission," the practice of insurers deciding that your expensive illness is a good reason to drop your coverage; guaranteed coverage for children, and expansions of Medicaid, SCHIP, and community health centers.

FULL story at link.

[Zenlitened]

1. Hearty K&R for both points in the excerpt:

The endless effort at 'bipartisanship'

and

The Rube Goldberg Device complexity of the thing, which made it easy to attack and difficult to sell

:thumbsup: