If there was any time in the debate on healthcare in which Obama’s worst fears were realized, it was on Wednesday. That’s because the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, working on its version of the reform bill and led by Chris Dodd (D-CT), essentially got its stamp of approval by his own party — creating a significant rift which now places any meaningful healthcare reform measure at the hands of senate moderates who will decide the reform’s fate. Obama, sensing this, held a photo op on 7/15 to tout, once again, the need for a strong public option. Feels at little like his campaign all over again, as his statements (campaign promises) court Senate Republicans (voters) for their approval (targeted votes from moderates and Obama’s ultimate bill passage victory and healthcare reform legacy).

This particular committee voted along party lines (13-10) to allow individuals to get health insurance and require their employers to foot the bill, a measure the committee says will cost some $615 billion. The bill calls for the government to provide financial assistance with premiums for individuals and families making up to four times the federal poverty level. Overall, Obama says he doesn’t want to overturn the system of employer-sponsored health benefits that has served middle-class families for better than half a century. He wants the legislation to be fully paid for and the total cost kept around $1 trillion over 10 years.

The Sen. Max Baucus-led Finance Committee still has yet to unveil its final version, but some Republican moderates, in response to what this version may provide, are wasting no time complaining about what they feel is government’s certain central role in it. Obama probably senses this as well, as he must realize that only way to appease Republicans on this issue to convince them that increased costs in the short term added to current healthcare costs do nothing to improve (or reform, for that matter) healthcare in the long term — it just makes it more diffcult to pay for. In the end, quality healthcare shouldn’t be about coverage; it should be about access. | LINK

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