By Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D., and Drew E. Altman, Ph.D.
The New England Journal of Medicine
November 2, 2006
Whichever party wins in the November congressional election, the margin of victory is likely to be small, and for this reason, the outcome of the election will have only a limited effect on the current direction of national health policy. The new leaders of the Congress will have to deal with the problems of scarce new federal revenues, a deep partisan division over the direction of health policy, and resistance by many conservative members to new plans for health care spending. In addition, as the presidential election of 2008 approaches, opposition by members of each party to the other’s health care proposals will intensify. In this environment, important new health reform initiatives are unlikely, and the congressional focus will be on incremental policy changes.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/355/18/1928
And…
Health Reform: Time For A Wake-Up Call
By Drew E. Altman and Robert J. Blendon
Health Affairs Blog
October 30th, 2006
For health reform to again gain a foothold at the top of the national political and policy agenda, it needs to become a central issue in the 2008 election campaign, so that candidates who are elected to office and the new president feel that they were elected, at least in part, to address the nation’s big health care problems when they start work in 2009. This is by no means guaranteed, but there is a scenario under which it could happen.
First, if we are fortunate enough to see external problems like Iraq stabilize or subside and no new big ones arise, health would have the opening it needs to compete for center stage as an election issue. Second, as Americans pay more and more each year out of their own pockets for health care, they will become increasingly concerned about health as a voting issue and policy priority.
But what health needs most to rise up in American politics is for national political candidates, whether from the political left, right, or center, to begin talking about the issue again as they did in the early nineties. Most important of all are the presidential candidates, who receive so much national media attention. If even one major candidate begins to seriously address health reform, the others will be forced to follow suit. The presidential candidates’ level of attention to health will be decisive to where health ranks on the national agenda going into the 2008 election and
2009 Congress. If they do play a leadership role on health, the media will follow, and the agenda-setting power of a debate driven from the top will meet the public’s concerns rising up from the bottom like two weather fronts colliding.
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2006/10/30/health-reform-time-for-a-wake-up-call/
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
So this election wasn’t about health care reform, but the next one can be. Get to work!