September 03, 2009
Author: CFM Staff
The fate of several major issues – health care, climate change and immigration – hang in the balance this fall in the nation's capital. What happens or doesn't happen will shape the Oregon legislative agenda for sessions in 2010 and 2011.
In the last two years, economic recession has been the big elephant in the room, determining the shape and contours of public policy. Now Congress and its ability to act may become the fulcrum.
Following a noisy August full of townhall protests, members of Congress return to Washington with lowered expectations for health care reform, at least in the forms currently bouncing around in the Capitol. Attention seems to be turning more to how reforms, including to Medicare, will affect individual Americans. That has given rise to talk about a new layer of health care issues, ranging from delivery system changes to incentives to discourage over-utilization of care.
Amid a discussion about whether to write off GOP support for any compromise comes an op-ed by former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, a Democrat, who said the perfect political marriage would involve universal access tied to tort reform on malpractice lawsuits. Bradley's suggestion apparently has revived President Obama's original idea of a bipartisan reform package.
Trial lawyers, who are major backers of Democrats, fiercely oppose limitations on malpractice awards. However, Obama has signaled some willingness to explore ways, short of damage caps on lawsuits, to stem the cost of malpractice insurance and discourage what is called "defensive medicine."
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