Positive Predictions For Health Care Coverage In 2009
Lawmakers are becoming more and more plugged in to the fact that health care and health insurance reform are issues that the American people are extremely concerned about. The unusually large amount of attention and legislation in 2008 supports that fact. As more and more are losing their health care coverage due to continued increases in deductibles, skyrocketing prescriptions and insurance premiums, Congress is likely to act in 2009, according to the consensus recently at a Washington DC health care forum sponsored by two non-partisan groups.
Since Senator Kennedy (D-MA) relinquished his seat on the Senate Judiciary committee a few weeks ago to work specifically on health care reform, the resolve in Congress to pass sweeping legislation seems to be growing. John McDonough, a health care aide to Senator Kennedy stated that the Senator is committed to achieving comprehensive health care reform and is very confident it can be done in the upcoming Congress.
The Republican Health Policy Director for the Senate Finance Committee, Charles Clapton stated that there was strong Republican support for getting the plan done, but that money is constricted by over a trillion dollar deficit. There would be competition for the funding, but with a system wherein private plans were delivering the benefits, we would see the most innovation. Similarly, Dr. Mark L. Hayes, the GOP Advisor for Health Policy on the Senate Finance Committe stressed the necessity for bipartisanship if a bill is to get passed, and that waiting 15 years to enact a plan will cause severe problems as opposed to solving the problem now.
An aide to Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Jocelyn Moore was also at the forum. She asserted that all options are still on the table and that Senator Rockefeller is committed to a successful plan, remaining ready and eager to work with Congress and the new Admistration. Moore stressed that the issues of effective preventative care, affordability, and unnecessary spending all need to be addressed.
The ranks of the unemployed are growing monthly, with nearly 1.2 million jobs eliminated in November and December alone. And the newly unemployed are not likely to be able to afford to maintain their health care coverage for long. The issue seems to be growing as a matter of urgency, and hopefully Congress will realize that health care is not a partisan issue, as they work together in 2009 to pass a comprehensive universal health care plan.
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