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Nov 5 2009, 6:30 am by Chris Good

Question Of The Day: What If Health Care Doesn't Pass In 2009?

If health care reform doesn't pass by the end of the year, will the political will behind it fall apart? What changes for health care if Congress leaves for the holidays without putting a bill on President Obama's desk?

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Comments (7)

Paul in Athens

Health care? Nothing. The caregivers, doctors, nurses, dentists, etc, will continue to provide the best care they can give.

The politics of control, over your choices, over the prices, over the demand, over the supply, well that's to be seen. But, I doubt it'll be anything close to what the dems on the fringes want.

gen

I thought the HCR had already failed because there are now 2 republican governors that can vote against it.

mesquito66

Each week, as elections loom closer, PelosiCare becomes harder to pass. That's what Our President gets for dithering.

Pineview1997

If HCR doesn't pass in 2009, it will become harder to pass in 2010 - but the underlying issues that created the burning platform will not magically disappear. They'll get worse, more acute. More uninsured. Rising costs.

What changes for health care? Nothing. The bill's reforms are already planned to be years in the future anyway, right? Gutless Washington - per usual.

RomanX (Replying to: Pineview1997)

I would say it would illustrate the inability of the current democratic leadership to govern. No more no less.

For any tough issue (wars, health care reform, financial institution reform, civil rights), there is never a "good" time. People will always suggest you slow down, or scale you plan back.

Politicians in general, and democrats specifically, are afraid of losing. So they will almost always chose half measures over any bold initiative.

That above or the influence of money in our political systems are probably the greatest obstacles to real reform.

jb

Some say I am a dreamer....but maybe, just maybe...

We will get people who are serious about health CARE reform and not destroying the health INSURANCE industry and they will sit down and come up with a plan that makes sense...

Here are some novel ideas...

-Reduce the costs to medical professionals and institutions (tort reform)
-Less reliance on pay per procedure and more reliance on flat salary to encourage medical personnel to spend more time with the individual patient rather than see how many services they can provide in a day
-Establish a way that existing medical record keeping software can be exchanged safely and securely. Schools have a system called the School Interoperability Framerwork (SIF) that provides this. The Internet came about because defense institutions and universities need a way to do that. It can be done at relatively low cost if current systems do not need a complete overhaul.
-Provide a system that will open up opportunities for citizens to choose among a variety of plans. This would be the exchange system that has been talked about it. But the government's role should be coordinating the exchange and encouraging participation, NOT providing one of the plans.

The president campaigned on change and on bipartisanship. If he wants to get something passed he needs to show he is serious about those two issues. You can't show you are bipartisan by telling Reid and Pelosi they are in charge because they have showed no inclination that they are willing to work with the other side. I mean, get real, having meeting room locks changed so Republicans can't access the planning?

Nola Dawg

I think the longer it is not passed, especially if they manage to actually complete a bill, the more difficult passing legislation will become. It will give opponents an actual target to aim for, and there will certainly be plenty of targets in a 2,000+ page bill written by anyone in Congress, let alone solely written by 1 party.

Agreed with Paul in Athens that health CARE will not change, because this is not longer about health care reform. As someone in medical school now, you can believe me when I tell you none of this debate has affected what I am taught. It is unfortunate, because looking from the inside out, I can see a lot of potential for actual reform, rather than expansion that hopes to get enough people to reform, maybe, some day.