Amy Traub

The Enzi Alternative

Health care reform finally is moving, with concrete proposals shaping up in both the House and the Senate. While neither plan represents the perfect solution for current and aspiring middle-class Americans, (although the House so far looks like the better of the two) the political debate is generally headed in a positive direction. We may just succeed in covering millions of uninsured Americans, lowering health costs to the economy as a whole, and ultimately improving the quality of care.

Or maybe not. Landmark health care reform still faces daunting roadblocks which could produce a ineffective, watered down bill - or prevent passage completely. Senator Mike Enzi, ranking minority member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has distinguished himself as one of the most obstinate opponents of reform, calling the bill recently approved by his committee "a complete failure that would make our health care system even sicker than it is today." So what's your plan, Senator Enzi?

Unlike the much-mocked lack of a Republican alternative in the House, Senator Enzi actually does have his own alternative health care plan. It's just not a very good one.

Reviewing Senator Enzi's plan provokes a growing sense of recognition. It looks a lot like - surprise! - President Bush's late, no-so-great proposals for health care. We get President Bush's proposed standard deduction for health care which would actually reduce insurance coverage as well as a plan for small business health plans which largely mirrors President Bush's proposal for Association Health Plans that could raise the cost of coverage by allowing insurers to cherry-pick the people they cover. The Enzi plan also privatizes Medicaid and SCHIP, despite the highly visible failures of pilot Medicaid privatization efforts at the state level.

Certainly, Enzi's bill includes the same good ideas that everybody rallies around (who doesn't want to improve health information technology?) but overall the plan is a step backward for health reform. The Enzi Alternative is worth keeping in mind as we listen to the over-the-top invective the Senator heaps on progressive reform efforts.

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Posted at 8:12 AM, Jul 16, 2009 in Health Care
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