Don't walk away from reform

Chris Jennings and Mark McClellan, Co-Directors of the Leaders' Project on the State of American Health Care, discuss the importance of bipartisanship around health reform and the feasibility of a bipartisan solution as Congress returns from summer recess.

Tonight, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will honor Senators Baker, Daschle and Dole for their work with the Bipartisan Policy Center on the Leader’s Project on the State of American Health Care.  We were pleased to support the Leaders in this important effort, and it has reminded us that what unites us as a nation is far greater than what separates us. 

Yes, the thermometer wasn’t the only thing heating up this past August as members of Congress returned to their districts for recess.  Democracy is often loud and sometimes messy, but we are proud to live in a nation where everyone gets a voice and so many people use it on critical issues like health reform.

For most Americans health reform isn’t about the legislative  process in Washington or even the details of legislation.  But it certainly is a debate they are watching with great interest; it is arguably the most personal of all issues.  When they listen in, Americans often times and understandably fear the worst and hope for the best.  They want to be sure that any reform protects what is best about our health care system while aggressively and effectively operating on its many imperfections.  And, in the end, what they tell us they want is as simple to understand as it is complicated to secure:  an affordable, accountable health care system that delivers the best care when and where they and their loved ones need it. 

Both of us have committed our lives to working toward ensuring that every American has affordable, quality coverage.  Both of us have been frustrated by the political gridlock over health care.  And both of us have concluded that the policy and the politics of health reform – and the public who is impacted by them – are so much better served when a bipartisan agreement can be reached.  To that end, we have worked together for the last two years to help find and promote bipartisan solutions. 

From our experience co-directing the Leaders' Project on the State of American Health Care and working with former Senate majority leaders Baker, Daschle, Dole, and, before he joined the Obama Administration, George Mitchell, we saw first-hand how challenging it is to build consensus around something like health reform. But having come out the other side, we know that consensus built on compromise is readily achievable.   The resulting report, authored by the three Leaders, was the product of many difficult conversations, heated debate, and, yes, compromise.  It wasn’t easy and  there were times when it looked like it was falling apart.  The senators could have walked away, but their persistence is a testament to their statesmanship as well as their personal commitment to improving the health of all Americans.

Ultimately, the project yielded not only the report but also a model for bipartisan collaboration.  What ended up on paper wasn’t anyone’s first choice, and frankly wasn’t what any one senator or one side would have come up with alone. But what they did together was achieve a health reform plan that is fiscally sustainable, reduces health care costs, improves quality, and ensures that all Americans have affordable health insurance coverage.  Agree or disagree with their plan, their work demonstrates that there is a viable bipartisan path to reform when leaders are willing to put personal ideologies aside and work together to move us forward.

We are proud to be associated with the Leaders’ Project and the policies it produced.  Although the policies and the process it produced are constructive contributions, we are the first to acknowledge that much more is at stake in the conversations taking place this fall between the White House and Congress.  As such, the challenge our current elected leaders face is far greater.  But, the opportunity is truly historic: improving access and quality, delivering more value for what we spend and helping fewer people get sick in the first place.  We're hopeful that in the coming weeks our nation's leaders in both the executive and legislative branches will, like the former majority leaders, find the path to crossing their lines.  We are closer than ever to the health reform that Americans expect and deserve.