Harris: Reconciliation is “Common-Sense” Option for Reform

David Streeter — February 24, 2010 – 12:55 pm | Congress | Democrats | Health Care Comments (0) Add a comment

David A. Harris, President of the National Jewish Democratic Council, published the following op-ed in Politico’s Arena about the potential use of reconciliation by Senate Democrats to pass health care reform:

Considering the profound and positive impact that comprehensive health insurance reform will have on the deficit, the reconciliation process is a natural vehicle to get this job done. Those who suggest that tackling sweeping health care achievements through this process have a conveniently short memory. From expansion of Medicaid coverage to the creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, reconciliation has been the process to meaningfully expand health coverage time and time again. When folks move from job to job, it’s the coverage commonly referred to as “COBRA” that permits them to continue their insurance coverage—and COBRA is just an acronym for the Consolidated Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 in which it was established!

There is more than a precedent for moving health insurance reform through reconciliation; in fact, the various significant pieces of our patchwork health care safety net from the past 30 years have all come through reconciliation. If there is a majority in the House and Senate in support of comprehensive reform moving forward, reconciliation is—historically speaking—the common-sense method of getting this job done for all Americans. And now, at long last, is the time for this landmark achievement.

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