SENATE DEMOCRATIC leaders have abandoned hopes of passing a healthcare reform Bill by next month, despite President Barack Obama’s call for urgent action on the issue. Senate majority leader Harry Reid said yesterday the full senate will not vote on healthcare legislation until after Congress returns from recess in September. “It’s better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through.”
Mr Reid was speaking hours after Mr Obama used a prime time press conference to press for immediate action to overhaul a system that leaves almost 46 million Americans without health coverage and millions more with too little insurance to cover medical treatment they need. “I’m rushed because I get letters every day from families getting clobbered by healthcare costs, and they ask me, ‘can you help?’ In a country like ours that’s not right,” he said.
“So let me be clear: if we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit. If we do not reform healthcare, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day. These are the consequences of inaction. These are the stakes of the debate we’re having right now.”
The president yesterday took his campaign for healthcare reform to Cleveland, Ohio, promising that he would not sign a reform Bill that adds to the federal deficit and criticising Republicans he accused of wanting to preserve the status quo. “Reform may be coming too soon for some in Washington, but it’s not soon enough for the American people,” he said.
Democrats comfortably outnumber Republicans in the House of Representatives and enjoy a filibuster-proof, 60-seat majority in the senate. Conservative Democrats are unhappy, however, with elements of the five competing healthcare Bills under consideration in congressional committees.
Republicans and conservative Democrats want stronger assurances that extending healthcare coverage will not increase the ballooning federal deficit. But they oppose many of Mr Obama’s proposals to keep down costs, notably the establishment of a publicly-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers and the appointment of an independent medical panel to assess the efficacy of drugs and treatments.
The healthcare industry, which has contributed generously to the campaigns of key committee members in both parties, has embraced elements of the reform plan, but is fiercely opposed to the proposal for a publicly-run insurance programme and is resisting controls on medical fees and drug prices.
Mr Obama said yesterday changing the incentive system that rewards doctors for providing expensive tests and procedures would provide healthcare that is not just better but cheaper.
“Often better care produces lower, not higher, expenses. Because better care leads to fewer errors that cost money and lives.
“You, or your doctor, don’t have to fill out the same form a dozen times. Medical professionals are free to treat people – not just illnesses. And patients are provided preventive care earlier – like mammograms and physicals – to avert more expensive and invasive treatment later.”