| Yesterday, I wrote a post with a simple proposal in it: Introduce legislation with the public option (what the progressive Democrats want) and medical liability reform (what the conservative Republicans want).
I received more than a few messages questioning why I would support such a move. So here is an explanation.
By itself, I do not support medical liability reform. I believe it is a way for Republicans to get back at trial lawyers and a way for them to deregulate the medical industry and give doctors a little more wiggle room for error. When you are talking about a doctor-patient relationship, there should be no wiggle room. That doctor should make the smartest decisions and the safest ones for that person.
The reason why I made the suggestion was mostly based on political motives. Out of everything the Republicans are proposing, I find this to be their least dangerous proposal. Allowing people to buy health insurance across state lines? That's not something I'm willing to deal with. The deregulation involved in that and the risks involved in that are too great and not acceptable. Plus, it has been shown that premiums would increase and more people would become uninsured. That isn't our goal here.
So that is why medical liability reform is the way to go. And I don't say that to try and sacrifice key components of our bill.
My goal is to put the Republicans in a position where the biggest piece of reform they are pushing - medical liability (or tort) reform - becomes their biggest detriment. We have Republicans talking about medical liability reform all the time. My congressman discusses it as a way to reform our health care system. The Republicans have candidates doing the same. So if it means that much to them, let's see if they can walk the walk.
Include it in legislation and then see what they say. Make sure that legislation has the key element of our proposal (the public insurance option) and then include medical liability reform. If they then waver because of what we propose, then we have the upper-hand.
I saw the reaction last night when the President mentioned medical liability reform during his speech. The Republicans cheered (and the President knew it would make them do that) while the Democrats sat on their hands. I would have done the same thing in that position. I am not a fan. But instead of us being on our heels about the public option, let's put them on their heels about their prized possession in this debate.
If the Republicans are willing to support health care reform with medical liability reform AND a strong, robust public insurance option, then maybe there is hope yet for decreasing polarization in Washington D.C.
Do I think that's going to happen? No, but it's about time we put them on the defensive instead of us having to defend the public option endlessly when all they have are lies and distortions and all we have are nearly 60 votes in the U.S. Senate and a strong majority in the House. |
