September 2010 Archives

Earlier this year, President Obama commissioned an 18-person panel -- made up of 10 Democrats and eight Republicans -- and charged it with finding ways to tamp down the nation's ever-rising debt. It is, no doubt, a task that is as worthy as it is difficult. Over the summer, the federal budget deficit reached $1.6 trillion while the national debt hit an astronomical $14.3 trillion. Fourteen of the 18 members have to agree on the recommendations before they are sent to the president and Congress on Dec. 1.

Do you think that the panel members will go into the Medicare program to help find ways to reduce debt and deficit?

2 responses: John C. Goodman, Kenneth E. Thorpe

Six months after the signing of the health care overhaul law, National Journal's Health Care Expert Blog reflects on the passage of the historic legislation. What helped get this bill signed into law when decades of previous attempts had failed? Was the participation of interest groups, like the pharmaceutical and doctors lobbies, the key to success? Or were big Democratic majorities in Congress the linchpin to getting the law to the president's desk?

And how would you rate the Obama administration's implementation of the law? Has it been what you expected? What, if anything, could be improved?

With Republicans eying a takeover of the House and possibly the Senate, talk of repealing the health care law has grown. Last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner vowed to undo the health care law and not fund a single program authorized under it.

"They'll get not one dime from us. Not a dime. There is no fixing this," Boehner told the Cincinnati Examiner in an editorial meeting that addressed his plans should he become leader of the House.

While there are programs under the new law that require discretionary funds from Congress, many of the major overhauls of the system are funded with mandatory spending, and turning back the entire bill would require Republicans to find a way to pay for the estimated $143 billion reduction in federal deficits created by the law. Adding to the complication are aspects of the legislation popular with voters, like the $250 checks to seniors in the Medicare "donut hole" and requirements for insurance companies to offer coverage for dependents 26 and under and for children with pre-existing conditions.

Can Republicans make good on their promise to "repeal" the law? What would that look like, and how would they do it?

2 responses: John C. Goodman, Grace-Marie Turner

As Congress gears up to return for its final legislative weeks before the midterm elections, Americans appear to be split on which party would better handle health care issues. A USA Today/Gallup poll released Sept. 1 found that 43 percent believe Republicans would be better stewards of health care policy, while 44 percent said Democrats would be the stronger party. This comes after reports of a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign from liberal interest groups to garner support for the overhaul law, organized with guidance from the White House.

Is it possible for Democrats to win voters over to the health care overhaul before the midterm elections? Should they continue talking about the benefits of the bill, or ignore the legislation until the midterms pass?

2 responses: Jack Lewin, John C. Goodman