Liberal Dems now control the fate of health reform

The public option is back on the table; an amendment is being offered in the Senate Finance Committee next week. Though the amendment's sponsor, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), acknowledged it will go down in defeat, proponents want a public recording of support and opposition.
 
Over on the House side, notice that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) comments on a government health program have become stronger, not weaker, since the president himself backed off the necessity of the public plan in a final healthcare bill when speaking to a joint session of Congress. When asked this week about whether a public option with a trigger would garner more support from the center and right of her caucus, Pelosi said a trigger "is an excuse for not doing anything."

 
The fate of healthcare reform lies in the hands of liberal Democrats — not President Obama, the Democratic leadership or the Republican Party. As I explained in my column this week, the Democrats have located the 60 votes to pass a healthcare bill through the Senate without having to resort to a politically perilous procedure known as reconciliation, which would surely prompt the Republicans to shut down the Senate. Paul Kirk will now temporarily fill the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) has indicated in no uncertain terms that she would like to vote for a healthcare reform bill that would answer her concerns. Finally, industry, with the potential to turn at any moment and oppose reform, is still on board.
 
Concerns abound over serious issues, such as cuts to Medicare Advantage and affordability of mandated coverage. And it is true that those issues alone could unravel any consensus. But the stars have aligned for Democrats to pass healthcare reform. If they don't pass something, they will be remembered for generations as the party that championed healthcare reform as a dire issue, tried twice to pass it and failed.
 
Liberal Democrats hold the cards — they won't get what they want, but if they hold together they can get something. This is their chance; will they take it?


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