REFORM: Kennedy Spurs Bipartisan Conversations about Health Legislation

We perk up when we hear phrases like "bipartisan support for a major healthcare initiative," especially when the bipartisan push is coming from Senator Edward Kennedy. Today's Boston Globe reports that while Kennedy recuperates from his brain tumor surgery, his office has begun a series of bipartisan meetings with an array of health care specialists to prepare for a major push to cover all Americans when the new president takes office next year. The paper reported:

Those involved in the discussions said Kennedy believes it is extremely important to move as quickly as possible on overhauling the healthcare system after the next president takes office in January in order to capitalize on the momentum behind a new administration.

Kennedy is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; Obama is a member, and his Senate staff has attended the roundtable discussions, the Globe reported. But Republican staff is also involved, as Kennedy tries to identify areas of agreement, possible starting points. Kennedy has made health care a signature issue in his 45 years in the Senate, and even before his aggressive brain cancer was diagnosed he made no secret that he wants to seize the moment and act next year.

"You have got to think this will be the Ted Kennedy Health Reform Act, because he's a beloved figure and he's championed the issue for so long," said John Rother, policy director for the AARP, which has been involved in the discussions. "There are a lot of unknowns right now, but what we do know obviously is he is very close to Obama, and he also has quite a network of health policy experts that he can draw from."

The newspaper reported that Kennedy's aides have also been working with a network of Massachusetts advisers, talking about ways the state's health program could possibly be adapted to a national model.

The many lessons of the 1993–94 health care reform debacle include that it was too partisan, and that the Clinton White House did not involve Congress enough in developing its plan. Kennedy is not alone in trying to do things differently this time. The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Montana Democrat Max Baucus, in June held a day-long bipartisan summit on health reform. Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden and Utah Republican Bob Bennett have a health reform proposal that has attracted bipartisan interest. Various nonprofit groups are running bipartisan programs to help congressional staff better understand the challenges of health care reform. We know from our conversations with people around Washington that there really is a desire to do things differently this time, so we're thrilled to see Kennedy make this a priority for his country, even as he confronts his own health ordeal.