Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

An amazing feat

Reid runs a difficult course to push health care reform toward passage

Just after 1 a.m. Monday, the Senate turned back a Republican filibuster attempt on health care reform legislation, opening the way for its expected passage this week. Although not perfect, the bill is a tremendous achievement and an important step toward providing health coverage for every American.

The Senate’s 60-40 vote was also remarkable because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada held together a fragile coalition throughout a tumultuous year. As a result, the nation is on the verge of seeing the types of reforms that have been talked about and needed for decades. As they have been for the past several months, Republicans are complaining about the bill and the way it was created. They now laughably say they weren’t “brought into” the negotiations. Of course, they never wanted to be part of the negotiations. Republicans snubbed Reid and President Barack Obama, both of whom tried to work with them.

Republicans have made this a fiercely partisan issue and tried to kill the legislation, along with the hope of health care for millions of Americans. Using fire-and-brimstone rhetoric, Republicans have tried to frighten people and have been able to scare up some opposition to the bill. Unfortunately, scare tactics have made it more difficult to pass the bill, particularly since Republicans and their supporters on the far right have been unwilling to even talk about any meaningful legislation. They have particularly whipped people up into a frenzy with disingenuous arguments, including those about “rationed” health care. Never mind that health care is already rationed through private insurance companies.

Instead of participating and putting this country on a path to improving health care, Republicans have looked for ways to score partisan points for political advantage, attacking anyone in favor of the bill, particularly Reid. The Senate majority leader is facing a difficult re-election bid next year. But this legislation shouldn’t be a political liability. The legislation, which will take several years to implement, will have a positive effect on America.

More than 30 million Americans, including 518,000 Nevadans, who don’t have insurance will become eligible for affordable health care under the plan. The legislation would provide tax credits for individuals and small businesses to help them pay for insurance coverage.

The bill lays out a deficit-reduction plan, and it should ease the burden taxpayers and people with insurance carry because of the uninsured, the costs of whose use of public medical services and hospital emergency rooms currently are passed on to taxpayers and people with insurance.

The legislation also would prohibit providers from denying people insurance because of pre-existing conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, ailments that afflict millions.

Reid should be commended. The easy thing would have been for him to shelve the bill and find something less controversial and build his political base in Nevada to prepare for the 2010 election. Instead, he took on the special interests and the recalcitrant Republican leadership, pulled together people with diverse beliefs and found the middle ground. As a result, long-overdue legislation that will help America is that much closer to passing.

That’s real leadership.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy