Will federal health overhaul cure or sicken?

Who’s in? Who’s out? Who’s on first? Do we still care?

One thing’s for certain right now when it comes to national health-care reform: There will be some. But just how much remains an uncertainty as the Senate and House work to reconcile their two reform bills and Congressional leaders posture and try to push their own agendas into the final version.

Ordinary Americans are puzzled, uncertain and angry — on both sides of the political divide – about what’s about to emerge after months of debate and horse-trading to get the votes needed to get something passed.

While almost everyone seemed to agree before the debate that the nation’s health-care system was broken, that’s where the agreement ended.

President Obama and Congressional Democrats, desperate to push through health reform at a moment in history when it seemed as if something could finally get done, tried but failed to get Republicans to budge in their opposition to anything that might give Democrats something to crow about in this year’s mid-term elections.

And Republicans, already reeling from the punishment they took at the ballot box in 2008 after eight years of the George W. Bush administration, were in no mood to be magnanimous and fought Democrats tooth and nail on just about every aspect of reform.

The end result was an ugly, fear-mongering tirade by opponents and a completely partisan vote in both houses of Congress that was sickening to see.

Who won? That always seems to be the question the TV talking heads want to dwell on, as if health-care reform — something desperately needed by millions of Americans and thousands of small businesses increasingly unable to offer coverage to their employees — was nothing more than a game.

To get some kind of health-care reform, everyone had to “win” something and “lose” something — otherwise once known as the fine art of compromise. With the so-called “public option” virtually dead at the time of this writing and a likely mandate for everyone to have health insurance, the insurance companies certainly appear to come out as winners in a thriving new environment with millions of new policies to be sold.

On the other hand, some of the worst abuses of the system appear to have been reined in, with insurers no longer able to deny coverage based on pre-existing medical conditions or to drop those who become too expensive to cover.

Colorado’s senators — both Democrats — issued statements after the Senate passed its bill on Dec. 24 admitting that health-care reform in America still hasn’t reached its full potential.

“The bill is far from perfect and doesn’t include everything I would like,´ said Sen. Mark Udall. “But it is a solid foundation that will give families the security they need to stay healthy, provide entrepreneurs the freedom to start a business and begin to rein in health-care costs and get control of our skyrocketing debt.”

Sen. Michael Bennet said he was disappointed by the “special deals” in the bill and that he hoped there might still be a public option, as favored by the House version.

But Bennet said the Senate bill — and perhaps the final version signed by Obama — will make a “substantial difference” for everyone.

“This bill is about the Coloradans and all Americans who just want a decent shot at the American dream,” Bennet said. “After decades of trying, we finally passed a bill that saves money, saves lives and gives families a fighting chance against relentless insurance company abuses.”

Meanwhile, Colorado has taken at least one step to move forward on the issue until national reforms begin to take hold in 2011. A new law that went into effect Jan. 1 assures that preventive health-care services are provided by insurance companies in the state regardless of whether their policyholders have met their deductibles or not.

Those services include screenings for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer, cholesterol levels, childhood immunizations, flu vaccines and programs to help manage alcohol abuse and quit smoking.

The bill creating the law was a bipartisan effort that included Democratic and Republican sponsors.

If only that kind of spirit of compromise — with a focus on the common good – could have been seen in the national health-care reform debate.

Steve Porter covers health care for the Northern Colorado Business Report. He can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 225 or at sporter@ncbr.com.

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