Obama looks ahead to fashioning healthcare compromise
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
President Obama this morning said he was looking forward to working with Congress to fashion a compromise healthcare reform bill built out of the different versions that have passed the House and Senate.
Speaking to reporters from the State Room of the White House before leaving on a holiday vacation to Hawaii, Obama praised senators who passed their version this morning. He was flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, who presided over the vote and announced the final 60-39 party-line tally.
“Having passed reform bills in both the House and the Senate, we now have to take up the last and most important step and reach an agreement on a final reform bill that I can sign into law,” Obama said. “And I look forward to working with members of Congress in both chambers over the coming weeks to do exactly that.”
Throughout the year, Obama has repeatedly referred to healthcare legislation as historic and unprecedented as it passed various committees and finally the full Congress. Today was no different.
“In a historic vote that took place this morning, members of the Senate joined their colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass a landmark health insurance reform package -- legislation that brings us toward the end of a nearly century-long struggle to reform America’s healthcare system,” he said.
The Obama administration made a political calculation early on to support and help Congress, but not to send it a comprehensive bill as President Clinton did. That bill was dead on arrival in Congress, and Clinton never recovered enough momentum to successfully push for healthcare reform again.
White House aides were very involved in helping shape compromises, and Obama personally visited Capitol Hill to urge Democrats to work together. He also held private discussions to help win over key Democrats such as Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and even to woo -- unsuccessfully -- Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine.
“With today’s vote, we are now incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality in this country,’ Obama said. “Our challenge, then, is to finish the job.”
Negotiations between the House and Senate are expected to take weeks, with the hope of bringing a bill to the president’s desk by the time of the State of the Union address early next year.
This morning, Obama praised what Democrats hope will be the main selling points of the new program: insurance industry reform, including the end to preexisting conditions as a block to coverage, appeals in disputes and the end of having to pay unlimited amounts for treatments.
“As I’ve said before, these are not small reforms; these are big reforms. If passed, this will be the most important piece of social policy since the Social Security Act in the 1930s, and the most important reform of our healthcare system since Medicare passed in the 1960s,” Obama said.
-- Michael Muskal
