Kerry Rebuts Republicans on Health Care, Urges Democrats to See Bigger Picture (edited to add breaks)
<...>Ted Kennedy often said his biggest political mistake was turning down a health care deal with Richard Nixon in 1971 that, for the first time, would have required all companies to provide a health plan for their employees, with federal subsidies for low-income workers. Teddy backed away from the deal under heavy pressure from fellow Democrats who wanted to hold out for a single-payer system once the party recaptured the White House in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
Well, thirty-eight years have passed and single-payer is still a dream. The lesson Teddy learned is this - that when it comes to historic breakthroughs in America, especially in social policies, you make the best deal you can, then immediately start pushing for ways to improve the deal. The journey never ends, as we've seen repeatedly as we've moved closer and closer to providing all Americans with adequate and affordable health care.
On this ever-winding journey, we developed Medicare and Medicaid - two programs that are the foundation of health coverage and currently serve about one in three Americans. These were bold steps - both programs were opposed by the America's medical establishment and by the predecessor's of today's Republicans. In fact, when former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole ran for president in 1996, he boasted that the vote he was most proud of was the one he cast against Medicare and Medicaid.
Since 1965, when Medicare and Medicaid were created, they have evolved and improved over the years. When Medicare first passed, it did not cover individuals with disabilities or individuals with end-stage renal disease. Now it does. Similarly, Medicaid evolved to allow states to cover additional services like home and community based care. Now, both Medicare and Medicaid are an indispensable element of the social contract in the United States.
Mr. President, our march to this point has been too long and too slow - almost a century, in fact It began in 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt ran for president promising government protection against, as he put it, "the hazards of sickness." And there have been fits and starts ever since - through the shouting and distortions and big interests clinging to status quo that just can't continue much longer. We know the legislative process is a long one. But 97 years is way too long - way too long - for America to finally join all the other major industrialized nations in guaranteeing health care for all of our people.
That we are here today, with an opportunity to take a giant step, shows not only what a challenge this undertaking has been but also the hard work, skill and dedication of our leadership. The bill is not perfect. But tell me - what bill is? All of us still would like to change it here and there. But none of us can credibly claim that we did not get a chance to have input into this bill. The Finance and Health committees of the Senate spent months of study, and the bills that came out of those committees included more than one hundred amendments by the minority. Unfortunately, even with those changes, the bills that came to us from the committees did so with virtually no support from the minority.
Still, we are hopeful that some Republicans will join us in this historic moment. Make no mistake. This is legislation that, with cooperation and bipartisanship, can make history and improve the lives of Americans for decades to come. It can help change who we are as a country - 94 percent of Americans would have health insurance. If we do nothing, things are only going to get worse - more expense, more bankruptcies, more people without coverage. These kinds of opportunities do not come often. Many of us here recall how we let a moment like this pass in 1993.
We learned hard lessons back then. But later, we did much better with the Children's Health Insurance Program, which, as the minority's co-sponsor, Senator Hatch, said was "the mark of a compassionate, caring Congress." Compassion can also be the mark of this Congress, if we only act, with cooperation, respect and courage. We simply can't stop now. We are closer than we've ever been before.
From Howard Dean's op-ed:
If lawmakers are interested in ensuring that government affordability credits are spent on health-care benefits rather than insurers' salaries, they need to require state-based exchanges, which act as prudent purchasers and select only the most efficient insurers. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) offered this amendment during the Finance Committee markup, and Democrats should include it in the final legislation.
State-based exchanges are in the bill.
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