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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Outside Voices: Obama must guide reform

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, Aug. 5: America is long overdue for a serious debate about health care. Too bad it’s not happening now. Oh, there’s lots of talk. People in power, pundits in the media and interest groups in the medical and insurance fields are expounding vigorously on the nation’s health care needs. But they’re talking past each other to their own audiences, not listening to one another, let alone directly answering concerns – a political Tower of Babel.

What a shame it will be if that prevents the nation from solving the health care crisis. And it is a crisis, though some choose not to see it. In this area President Barack Obama has to step up as the communicator in chief. He’s approaching health care reform like a campaign, but he’s falling into pat arguments that speak to believers more than naysayers. As one example, he needs to convince people that the reform he envisions won’t come at the expense of medical innovation and the array of world-class hospitals and specialists that Americans who now have coverage greatly value. That’s at the core of opponents’ fears, and it’s a legitimate concern.

The president needs to borrow a page from the Ronald Reagan can-do playbook. A nation that spends more than $2 trillion on health care every year should be able to provide coverage to every American and offer unparalleled quality of treatment and services. It should not be either/or. Yet that’s how the nondebate is shaping up in Congress and in scare-tactic advertising campaigns.

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, Aug. 3: Sometimes it’s a good sign when key stakeholders and opposing political factions are grumbling about a sweeping reform moving through Congress. By that measure, the prospects looked brighter this week for the health care overhaul President Obama has made a top priority. As the House wrapped up committee work on Byzantine legislation designed to tame runaway health care inflation and provide coverage to nearly all of the 50 million uninsured, liberal Democrats stepped up to join Republicans in criticizing various compromises made to reach this point.

Would the reduced subsidies to help people purchase insurance still put coverage out of reach? Will the requirement that a new government-run insurance plan negotiate rates with doctors and hospitals – rather than more frugal Medicare fees – make it less effective as a safety net and as a competitor to private insurers? Shouldn’t small businesses do more to insure workers, or are they doing too much?

Far from sounding reform’s death knell, though, these complaints were the best indication the House is striking the right balance on cost and access to care.