Health Care and tax reform after all?
Bottom Line: If you watched the Florida/Tennessee game on Saturday you watched a pitifully played game for about 59 minutes and 52 seconds. The game was sloppy. Execution was poor and both teams blew opportunity after opportunity to take control of the game. On the last play of the game that all changed. On that play there was a brilliant pass, perfect catch and by virtue of a 63 yard "Hail Mary" - a game winner. That's all anyone will remember about that game going forward.
With ten days left before the filibuster would come back into play, with regard to any healthcare changes, there's a real possibility that healthcare reform may actually happen. This while we're also hearing that tax reform has real momentum as well. Could it be? What's more is that when you begin peeling back the layers of the onion that we are aware of at this point, it's actually the best version of healthcare reform proposed by this Congress to date.
While I've made it clear for sometime that I'm not a fan of any healthcare reform proposal that embraces the existing "insurance first" model, I've also indicated that simply being able to opt of the existing system would be acceptable to many of us. The current GOP Senate proposal would not only end the federal mandates, it'd actually kick it back to the states. In general, government programs are least efficient when managed from the federal level and most efficient had managed at the state and local level. The GOP plan being discussed would end the federal mandates and kick block grants to all states to administer a healthcare plan as they'd see fit. Addressing pre-existing conditions, what plans would be acceptable, how plans would be offered, etc. That makes far more sense that the existing model and it would also provide a path for you to create your own healthcare plan. Better still word is that tax reform also has momentum in the Senate. Details are still light but it'd be a comprehensive plan for individuals and businesses estimated to be worth $1.5 to $2 trillion over a decade. So back to where we started...
If the Republicans manage to pass meaningful healthcare and tax reform (achieving the three most important agenda items of the average American), next year the futility of this Congress up to this point will be forgotten. Much the the first 59+ minutes of that Florida - Tennessee game.