Sen. Kennedy to lead push for Universal Healthcare

This is extremely good news and signals that Senator Kennedy, during his fight and recovery from brain cancer surgery, is looking to the future.

Kennedy leads renewed effort on universal healthcare
Presses for bipartisan support before new president takes office – The Boston Globe

Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s office has begun convening a series of meetings involving a wide array of healthcare specialists to begin laying the groundwork for a new attempt to provide universal healthcare, according to participants.

The discussions signal that Kennedy, who instructed aides to begin holding the meetings while he is in Massachusetts undergoing treatment for brain cancer, intends to work vigorously to build bipartisan support for a major healthcare initiative when he returns to Washington in the fall.

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.[.]

Obama’s Senate staff has attended the roundtable discussions. If Obama is elected, Kennedy’s effort to identify points of agreement among senators could smooth the way for the new administration to press ahead on universal healthcare, which Obama has promised to implement within four years.[.]

“The senator is trying to learn from health reform attempts in the past and to build a fair amount of consensus among his Senate colleagues, House colleagues, and the Obama campaign . . . and find a strategy that could carry with some momentum into the new administration,” said Dr. Jay Himmelstein, a health policy specialist at University of Massachusetts Medical School and a former Kennedy staff member who has been involved in the talks.

The initiative also suggests that Kennedy, who has made healthcare his signature issue in his 45-year Senate career and who is fighting an aggressive brain tumor, is considering his legacy as a new administration arrives in Washington – a moment many see as the best chance for widespread changes in the healthcare system in 15 years.

“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.

Melissa Wagoner, spokeswoman for Kennedy, added that “Making sure each American has access to quality, affordable healthcare is the cause of Senator Kennedy’s life.”

Just watch the rush on both sides to co-sponsor the Ted Kennedy Health Reform Act. The wasted trillions of dollars spent on Iraq demands its passage.

Welcome back Senator.

8 Comments

Steven D on July 4, 2008 at 9:21 am

A better legacy than any Bush could hope for.

idredit on July 4, 2008 at 9:52 am

There is some competition in play here. I see this Kennedy move as preemptive. It excludes Hillary Clinton being given a high profile lead role on healthcare reform. This is an issue dear to the lion’s heart and he wants this as the flagship of his legacy.
- budr on July 4, 2008 at 11:08 am
  
  He has earned it. I think we all ought to get behind him and push. And if Hillary has any sense left, she will get behind Senator Kennedy as well. If she wants to have any legacy at all, she needs to be seen as a major force in helping to secure Ted’s legacy.
  - AliceDem on July 4, 2008 at 2:01 pm
    
    Is this about Senator Kennedy or health care for every citizen. We have very good legislation, HR 676, Medicare for All. Kennedy had sponsored the Senate version of that. Is he walking back from that commitment?
    
    This isn’t about Kennedy, Obama, Clinton, or any other politician. It is about our health care.
    - idredit on July 4, 2008 at 5:03 pm
      
      Both.
      
      Kennedy is pushing universal healthcare for all.
      
      the sense too (and not to be macabre) we need not wait for Kennedy to be in transition before we honor him. It’s a poor habit of humans to say nice things of someone,…. only after death.

lyvwyr101 on July 4, 2008 at 11:18 am

Thank you, senator. What a legacy!

shergald on July 6, 2008 at 3:23 pm

You have to believe that “single payer” health care is the ultimate goal, bringing into fuition one of the last pieces of FDR’s New Deal, and bringing America in line with the social democracies of Europe, which eschewed the application of social Darwinism in medicine decades ago.

“Universal” in my mind is just a prologue to single payer health care. If Ted can get it that far, then his legacy will be quite a large one to look back on.

idredit on July 6, 2008 at 5:16 pm

A Single payer universal system -as Canada’s program – is the way to go. It retains your choice of doctors too. Single payer gets rid of the conflicts. Take what McCain is offering up – a disaster in the making if this AP report is correct and should he become president:

McCain’s health plan: A threat to employer plans?

WASHINGTON – There’s a great unknown about Sen. John McCain’s health plan: How many employers would drop insurance coverage for their workers because of his tax policies?

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting has proposed that everyone buying health insurance get a refundable tax credit, $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families. At the same time, he would treat employer contributions toward health insurance like income, meaning workers would have to pay income, but not payroll, taxes on it.

McCain’s Democratic rival, Barack Obama, says the plan would “shred” the employer-based system that provides health insurance to about 158 million workers.

Most health analysts won’t go that far, but both liberals and conservatives say McCain’s approach would strengthen the individual and small-group insurance market. And by strengthening that market, it will pull in workers now covered through their jobs.

The workers most inclined to make that transition will be younger, healthier ones who most likely will be able to buy a policy on the individual market for less than their tax credit, said Paul Fronstin, a senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, which studies employee benefits.

To the degree that happens, the employer-based market will become less healthy as sicker, older workers stay with their employer-based coverage while more of the healthier workers move to the individual market.

Steven D on July 4, 2008 at 9:21 am

A better legacy than any Bush could hope for.
- idredit on July 4, 2008 at 9:52 am
  
  There is some competition in play here. I see this Kennedy move as preemptive. It excludes Hillary Clinton being given a high profile lead role on healthcare reform. This is an issue dear to the lion’s heart and he wants this as the flagship of his legacy.
  - budr on July 4, 2008 at 11:08 am
    
    He has earned it. I think we all ought to get behind him and push. And if Hillary has any sense left, she will get behind Senator Kennedy as well. If she wants to have any legacy at all, she needs to be seen as a major force in helping to secure Ted’s legacy.
    - AliceDem on July 4, 2008 at 2:01 pm
      
      Is this about Senator Kennedy or health care for every citizen. We have very good legislation, HR 676, Medicare for All. Kennedy had sponsored the Senate version of that. Is he walking back from that commitment?
      
      This isn’t about Kennedy, Obama, Clinton, or any other politician. It is about our health care.
      - idredit on July 4, 2008 at 5:03 pm
        
        Both.
        
        Kennedy is pushing universal healthcare for all.
        
        the sense too (and not to be macabre) we need not wait for Kennedy to be in transition before we honor him. It’s a poor habit of humans to say nice things of someone,…. only after death.
lyvwyr101 on July 4, 2008 at 11:18 am

Thank you, senator. What a legacy!
shergald on July 6, 2008 at 3:23 pm

You have to believe that “single payer” health care is the ultimate goal, bringing into fuition one of the last pieces of FDR’s New Deal, and bringing America in line with the social democracies of Europe, which eschewed the application of social Darwinism in medicine decades ago.

“Universal” in my mind is just a prologue to single payer health care. If Ted can get it that far, then his legacy will be quite a large one to look back on.
- idredit on July 6, 2008 at 5:16 pm
  
  A Single payer universal system -as Canada’s program – is the way to go. It retains your choice of doctors too. Single payer gets rid of the conflicts. Take what McCain is offering up – a disaster in the making if this AP report is correct and should he become president:
  
  McCain’s health plan: A threat to employer plans?
  
  WASHINGTON – There’s a great unknown about Sen. John McCain’s health plan: How many employers would drop insurance coverage for their workers because of his tax policies?
  
  The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting has proposed that everyone buying health insurance get a refundable tax credit, $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families. At the same time, he would treat employer contributions toward health insurance like income, meaning workers would have to pay income, but not payroll, taxes on it.
  
  McCain’s Democratic rival, Barack Obama, says the plan would “shred” the employer-based system that provides health insurance to about 158 million workers.
  
  Most health analysts won’t go that far, but both liberals and conservatives say McCain’s approach would strengthen the individual and small-group insurance market. And by strengthening that market, it will pull in workers now covered through their jobs.
  
  The workers most inclined to make that transition will be younger, healthier ones who most likely will be able to buy a policy on the individual market for less than their tax credit, said Paul Fronstin, a senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, which studies employee benefits.
  
  To the degree that happens, the employer-based market will become less healthy as sicker, older workers stay with their employer-based coverage while more of the healthier workers move to the individual market.

Sen. Kennedy to lead push for Universal Healthcare

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