Monday, March 22, 2010

Congress seems likely to wheel in health care reform from an interminable stay in the waiting room and bring it to a final vote in the House of Representatives. As they do, lawmakers should take several points to heart:

-- If the legislation fails to draw a single Republican vote, so be it. The GOP has made clear its goal is to kill reform. But millions of working Americans can't get affordable health insurance. Millions more are shut out because of a past illness or worry about being dropped if their medical bills soar. This debate has gone on long enough.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that the Democrats can forget about future bipartisan cooperation if they push through health care reform on their own.

As if the GOP has shown a hint of bipartisan spirit since getting spooked by the tea party crowd.

-- Although some Democrats are wavering for fear of being punished at the polls in the fall, we suspect a vote for health care will serve them well. Americans will appreciate the benefits of reform -- and a Congress brave enough to go for it. But, in any event, this is no time to play it safe. History will remember those who stood for what is right.

-- The bill -- a culmination of drawn-out legislative haggling -- is flawed in many ways, including its restrictions on abortion funding. But the only alternative is no bill at all. Lawmakers should not let the bill's shortcomings deter them.

-- Maintaining the status quo would be financially irresponsible as health care costs continue to soar. In Illinois, health insurance premiums are expected to rise this year by as much as 60 percent. The current reforms don't do enough to curb costs, but they are a start. ...

[A week ago], President Obama traveled to an Ohio senior center to stress the important goals the bill does meet. It would broaden health insurance to cover millions who don't have it, curb increases in the nation's overall health care tab and do away with such industry practices as canceling insurance for people who fall ill or denying it to those who have pre-existing medical conditions.

"We need courage," Obama said, picking up on a line shouted out by somebody in the audience.

We especially need courage on Capitol Hill.

As health care reform has languished in the waiting room, we can't help but think of the millions of unlucky Americans -- uninsured or underinsured -- who have already waited too long.

-- The Chicago Sun-Times