| Page 2 of 2 < |
At Summit, Former Foes of Health Reform Emerge as Supporters of Obama's Effort


|
|
Political realities -- Obama's landslide election and soaring poll numbers -- coupled with economic pressures brought many of the players to the bargaining table.
"The status quo is worse than virtually any of the proposals we see out there," John Arensmeyer, founder of the health-care advocacy group Small Business Majority, said during one of five breakout sessions.
Obama said that every day, he reads 10 letters selected from the flood of mail pouring into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And at least three each day, he said, "relate to somebody who's having a health-care crisis."
A handful of those letter-writers were invited to attend the summit, although only one, an Indiana firefighter, spoke.
In his budget proposal, Obama would create a 10-year, $634 billion reserve fund intended to help pay for health coverage expansion. Yesterday, he emphasized that he is not wedded to the details.
"I just want to figure out what works," he said. "We don't have a monopoly on good ideas."
At the same time, he warned advocates on both sides of the ideological spectrum not to misinterpret his ideas. To the "liberal bleeding hearts" hoping for universal health coverage, he cautioned: "I don't think we can solve this problem without talking about costs." And to "those obsessed with costs," he pledged he would not slash the social safety net.
"We've got to balance heart and head," he said.
Obama gently sparred with Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) over his campaign proposal to offer a government-sponsored insurance option to people who do not have coverage.
Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, argued that the "public option" would make government "an unfair competitor" to private insurers.
"The thinking on the public option has been that it gives consumers more choices and helps keep the private sector honest," Obama replied.
For many, the feelings of goodwill were all too familiar. Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah) said he recalled agreeing with "absolutely everything" Bill Clinton said in his 1993 address to Congress, while agreeing with almost nothing in his actual plan.
"Bipartisanship is not just a nice thing we say to each other before we touch gloves, go to our corners and come out swinging when the bell rings," Bennett said. Health reform will require "wrenching change," he added. If it is to succeed, political leaders in both parties will have to "join hands and jump off the cliff together."
