Fw: [HIVMMW] Washington Times: Kennedy secretly crafts health care plan

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Friday, October 24, 2008

Kennedy secretly crafts health care plan

H. Birnbaum

EXCLUSIVE:

From his sickbed, Sen. M. Kennedy has secretly

been orchestrating meetings with lobbyists and lawmakers from both parties to

craft legislation that would greet the new president with a plan to provide

affordable medical coverage to all Americans, a measure he has called " the

cause of my life. "

Mr. Kennedy has been sidelined for months with a

dangerous form of brain cancer. But despite his disheartening medical prognosis

- or maybe because of it - aides and activists say, the Massachusetts

Democrat's decades-long quest for health care reform may now be closer to

success than ever.

" There is a serious process moving forward and that

augurs well, " said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a

nonprofit health care advocacy group. " There really is a sea change that

should not be underestimated in terms of attitude. "

Among those who are receptive to a bipartisan plan and

who have participated in the initial talks is Sen. B. Enzi of Wyoming, the ranking

Republican on the Senate health committee, which Mr. Kennedy leads.

The meetings " are a testament to how people feel

about him, " Enzi spokesman Mahaffey said. " Senator Enzi is

looking forward to working with Senator Kennedy on this issue. "

Mr. Kennedy's goal, his aides say, is to introduce a

universal health care bill as soon as the new Congress convenes next year and

to push quickly for its passage - a much-accelerated timetable compared with

the last time that a health care overhaul was on the agenda, at the start of

the Clinton

administration.

" Senator Kennedy has spent the last several weeks

laying the groundwork for reform so that we can be ready to go in 2009, "

said his spokesman Coley. " This is and has been the cause of

Senator Kennedy's life. "

He also hopes the bill's fortunes will be helped by the

extensive private consultations between his staff and major players in the

health care system. His aides have met with representatives of business groups,

labor unions, consumer organizations, insurers, physicians, drug companies and

hospitals.

President Clinton's health care initiative faltered 15

years ago largely because he was unable to gain the support of many of these

key factions after constructing a plan that kept many Congress members in the

dark for months.

Mr. Kennedy is also moving with the knowledge of the

presidential candidate who's now leading in the polls, Sen. Barack Obama, and

appears determined not to repeat the Clinton-era mistakes.

While Mr. Kennedy is shooting for universal coverage,

the two men running for president - McCain and Mr. Obama - have their own

plans that many analysts say fall short of that goal. An Obama Senate aide sat

in on many of the early Kennedy meetings; no McCain aide did.

The wide-ranging talks have taken place behind closed

doors on Capitol Hill and have been monitored by Mr. Kennedy through daily

telephone updates from his staff, said his aides and several participants.

The discussions, which started in June, included 14

roundtable meetings in the Dirksen

Senate Office

Building. These were

attended not only by Kennedy aides but also by staffers, both Republicans and

Democrats, from the Senate committees with jurisdiction over health care. Those

include the Budget Committee, the Finance Committee and the committee that Mr.

Kennedy leads, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Also attending was the entire panoply of interest groups

with stakes in the cost and availability of health coverage. These included the

AFL-CIO, the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National

Federation of Independent Business, the National Retail Federation, the

Federation of American Hospitals, the American Medical Association, America's Health

Insurance Plans, Families USA, AARP and the Consumers Union.

Mr. Kennedy's staff has started to meet regularly with a

small group of people representing each facet of industry as well as consumers.

Kennedy aides said they have not drafted legislation but probably will do so

soon.

The conversations are extraordinary for several reasons.

First, they have been bipartisan - a rarity in the increasingly polarized

capital these days.

The talks also have managed to put in the same room

interests that rarely meet - let alone agree with one another. No one is under

the illusion that finding a compromise will be easy. Indeed, it remains unclear

that a long-elusive consensus can be found. Participants agree, however, that

Mr. Kennedy's active role - particularly during his convalescence - have

increased the likelihood of a breakthrough.

" He sets aside several hours each day. He's calling

senators. He's working tirelessly, " Mr. Pollack said. " He's making

things happen. "

" Kennedy is really seizing the moment, " said

Adrienne Hahn of Consumers Union. " He's a real bridge-builder. He can

bring strange bedfellows together. "

Mr. Kennedy's close relationship with Mr. Obama could

prove a boon to those prospects as well.

Kennedy aides say that although they were not working

with the Obama campaign on their plan, they also are not considering proposals

to which a President Obama would object.

" Were Obama to win, [Mr. Kennedy] will have

significant influence on an Obama administration? " Mr. Pollack predicted.

The senator from Massachusetts

was an early backer of Mr. Obama's presidential run, and his speech at the

Democratic National Convention in August, which focused on health care reform,

was one of the event's highlights.

" I pledge to you that I will be there next January

on the floor of the United States Senate, " Mr. Kennedy told the cheering

crowd in Denver.

" This is the cause of my life, new hope that we will break the old

gridlock and guarantee that every American - north, south, east, west, young,

old - will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a

privilege. "

But Mr. Kennedy will not be the only lawmaker to offer a

health care package next year. Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance

Committee, also might introduce a proposal, though a Baucus aide said the

Montana Democrat plans to work closely with Mr. Kennedy.

The 76-year-old senator received a diagnosis in May of a

malignant brain tumor and, after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment,

has been recuperating at his family's compound in Hyannis Port.

Insiders say he devotes several hours a day to his health care project.

" Here's a guy who has made a serious effort on

health reform several times in the past and failed, " said Rother, a

top executive at AARP, the senior citizens lobby. " There will be a very

strong impulse in the Congress to do things for him, especially things he

really cares about, and health care would be at the top of that list. "

" There is this real feeling, " Mr. Rother

added: " 'Let's do it for Ted.' "

Carl Schmid

Director of Federal Affairs

The AIDS Institute

Washington DC

202/462-3042

cell: 202/669-8267

fax: 202/328-0467

cschmid@...