Past time for reform

Democrats are planning to move as early as next week to hold what could be the deciding votes to pass health care reform, possibly capping off a year of acrimonious debate in Congress. There was quite a bit of momentum this past week, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada saying that he will call for a simple majority vote to make revisions to the health care reform legislation that passed with 60 votes — a supermajority — in December. Additionally, President Barack Obama got out of Washington for a couple of visits, to Pennsylvania and Missouri, to explain why passage of health care reform is crucial.

Indeed, we think whenever this president has a chance to take his message directly to the American people — away from the sometimes nasty partisan atmosphere that the Republicans have stoked during his first year in office — he is well served in making his case on the urgent need for health care reform. In Missouri the president emphasized accountability and why it would be irresponsible to accept the status quo.

In that vein, he said the administration would aggressively investigate abuse and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. Furthermore, he said it was essential to make sure that government auditors go after overpayments made to doctors and hospitals participating in government health care programs. Improper overpayments alone are estimated to have cost taxpayers $100 billion last year, Obama said. ÒThe health care system has billions of dollars that should go to patient care, and theyÕre lost each and every year to fraud and abuse and massive subsidies that line the pockets of insurance company executives.Ó

While the president was in Missouri talking about cracking down on waste and fraud — both in existing health care programs and incorporating such vigilance as part of health insurance reform he is advocating — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius delivered a direct message to insurance company executives earlier in the week. Sebelius, in a letter to some major health insurance executives, called on them to justify premium increases they are seeking.

ÒNow itÕs time for these insurance company CEOs to do their part to make the system more transparent for the American people,Ó she said. ÒIf insurance companies are going to raise rates, the least they can do is tell us why.Ó Indeed. Two days later, on Wednesday, Sebelius spoke to a meeting of AmericaÕs Health Insurance Plans. The president of this trade group told The New York Times that the association would come up with a template disclosing data regarding premiums and costs.

The reality is that the way health care is delivered in this country is broken, whether it is the tens of millions of Americans who lack insurance or the businesses struggling to offer health insurance to their employees when premiums continue to skyrocket. Congress has spent a year discussing and debating health care reform — with Republicans spending most of that time gumming up the works, trying to delay its passage. No more obstructionism. Now is the time to act.