The New Health Dialogue

Particularly during budget season, Congress sometimes reminds us of a couple. Always fighting about money. But eventually reconciling.

Okay, so reconciliation is a touchy subject at the moment, even among Democrats. But the fight about the budget process shouldn't hide the strong signals in the Senate that there are serious efforts at bipartisanship on health reform. Serious signals from serious Republicans. We wrote (twice! here and here) about Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa last week. Here's an update on New Hampshire's Judd Gregg and Utah's Orrin Hatch.

On the Today show earlier this week, Gregg was critical of the budgets being finalized by Democrats in the House and the Senate. But on health care, he was notably more optimistic and gave credit to Democrats for reaching out.

You cannot do something this huge and not do it in a reasonably bipartisan way. And I think they've tried to be bipartisan on this issue, the health care issue, so far. We've got a lot of cross-party discussions going on here in the Senate and I think that's the way to proceed.

A few days ago, The New Republic's Suzy Khimm profiled Hatch. As one of the few Republicans to serve on both of the key committees with health care jurisdiction, Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees, he has spent years working on health policy. He also has a decades-long "odd couple" friendship with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). The New Republic article is entitled Teddy's Bear. Sometimes the two of them have struck important bipartisan agreements on health, such as when they created the State Children's Health Insurance Program. And sometimes their personal affection can't bridge the philosophical differences. Right now, of course, Kennedy's brain cancer means Hatch knows now is the time for a deal. Many observers of health politics think this relationship could make Hatch a key Republican negotiator on health care reform, despite his frustration with debate over renewing and expanding the children's health program this year.

I resented the way [the Democrats] modified CHIP ... but, as important as CHIP is, this is even more important. I'm prepared to work on a final bill right now.

The New Republic article goes on to say:

To the relief of Democratic policymakers, Hatch has not only put aside his anger about SCHIP, but also suggested that he wants to take a central role in crafting a grand compromise, setting his sights on achieving "seventy-five or eighty votes" in the Senate.

Amid our economic crisis, Republicans and Democrats alike have gained greater understanding of the impact of rising health care costs on our nation's long-term fiscal future, on our businesses, and on American families. Understanding the cost of doing nothing should make health reform a priority for Democrats and Republicans alike. Health reform might just be the issue that proves bipartisanship is possible in Washington after all.