Bill Clinton: Imperfect Healthcare Reform Better Than None
Posted: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
by Yamileth Medina
VitalOne Health
The current healthcare reform debate must bring up some bad memories for former President Bill Clinton. He, with the help of then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, tried to enact their own bill to reform the health insurance industry early in his first term. Their attempts failed to receive enough support from his party and failed; the Democrats then suffered a humiliating defeat in the 1994 mid-term elections. Yesterday, he visited the Senate to encourage the Democratic party to vote in favor of reform. His primary hope is that President Obama and congressional Democrats don't repeat his mistakes; namely, a legislative process that continued to drag on.
So far, important Democrats have been following Clinton's strategy on health insurance. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had representatives working a rare Saturday night shift in order to get the bill passed, and included several compromises. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has vowed to have passed a reform bill by Christmas. Ever since the inauguration, the Obama administration has pushed Congress to get a healthcare reform bill on his desk and signed by the end of this year, even to the detriment of other domestic priorities like the recession. Clinton claims that successful reform will actually help the economy, by decreasing the crushing cost of a health insurance plan for many Americans. Presumably, consumers could then use the money they save on premiums for spending, thereby increasing our GDP. However, Republicans are planning to debate the healthcare reform bill for as long as possible, for weeks months if necessary. It is somewhat suspicious that supporters want to move such important (and long) legislation through Congress so quickly. Some legislators have even failed to read the nearly 2,000-page bill--although maybe their aides have.
Will Bill Clinton's speech help get healthcare reform passed? He is a polarizing figure, but is greatly respected and admired among his own party. Negotiating the release of two North Korean hostages earlier this year proved that he still has political clout with the general public. His own attempt at reforming the health insurance industry gives him the ability to give helpful advice on the pitfalls; however, his baggage gives conservatives more ammunition in their fight against reform. In Clinton's era, Republican groups and health insurance providers were successful in scuttling healthcare reform by claiming that it will negatively impact Americans' existing health insurance plans--the famous "Harry and Louise" ads are a case in point. Back then, Clinton was also more adamant about enacting a single-payer health insurance plan, which allowed opponents to stoke the public's fears of socialized medicine and governmental takeover. This time, such a comprehensive government-run program is a non-starter, but even the scaled-down public option (for the uninsured and those with pre-existing conditions) is untenable for many. They are again threatening the seats of conservative "Blue Dog" and moderate Democratic politicians. Both sides learned lessons from the last healthcare reform fight; the only thing that remains is who will win this time.
(Image: Photo Denbow under CC 2.0)
Yamileth Medina is an up and coming expert on Health Insurance and Healthcare Reform. She aims to help people realize that they can get a health insurance plan right now while waiting for a public option, if it ever gets passed. Yamileth lives in Miami, FL.
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