The New Health Dialogue

The RSVPs are coming in, and we’ve got our popcorn and our Twitter feed ready to go for the six-hour bipartisan health reform summit Thursday. Pro-health reform groups, meanwhile, are keeping up the pressure on lawmakers to finish the job. A progressive coalition -- including Health Care For America Now, MoveOn.org, Doctors for America, and the SEIU -- are holding a “Virtual March for Healthcare.” The goal of the Virtual March is to send a message to Congress through faxes, phone calls and emails that health reform can’t wait another year. Last time we checked, the official ticker indicated that 808,000 people had sent a message today.

Also today, White House Office of Health Reform Director Nancy Ann DeParle held a live video chat to discuss health reform. DeParle took questions from online listeners, and explained the costs and benefits of the proposed final health reform bill released by the president on Monday morning. “We’ve passed bills in the House and the Senate that meet the president’s principles,” said DeParle. “We’re meeting tomorrow in the Blair House…to roll up our sleeves and figure out how to really get the job done.”

DeParle discussed the bill’s highlights, such as subsidies to help Americans purchase health insurance, the new health insurance exchanges, and financing health reform. Health insurance won’t be free under health reform, she said, but “the president believes all hardworking Americans deserve affordable care…this is something the president feels very strongly about.”   She explained:

Millions of people don’t have insurance because they can’t afford it, not because they don’t want it. Subsidies will help low and middle income people afford insurance. This will bring down the cost for everybody.

The exchange will give people and small businesses that ability to purchase insurance in the way that large employers and the federal government purchase insurance. The exchange will help promote competition among health insurance companies, while regulating insurers to protect consumers. 

Some online listeners expressed concerns over where we are getting the money to pay for health reform. DeParle said the funding came from several sources, including driving down unwarranted subsidies to Medicare Advantage, increasing quality of care to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions, administrative simplification (cutting down on paperwork) and increased revenues, such as the Cadillac tax on high value plans, and the unearned income hospital insurance tax on wealthy individuals.

Ultimately, DeParle argued, reports indicate that health reform will reduce health care costs for individuals, families, and businesses -- especially small businesses that are already struggling with out of control health care costs.

Democrats are keeping tight-lipped about what lies ahead after the summit. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says he's interested in what Republicans have to say, and Speaker Pelosi says she and her fellow House Democrats are "not into procedure right now. We're into substance...Once we agree on substance, then we'll go to the next step."

We know what's at stake. We need a way forward.  And we’ll be holding our breath until then...