Democrats on the Defensive About Health Insurance Reform

Democrats on the Defensive About Health Insurance Reform in Politics and Legislation

Hindsight is 20/20.

And with the clarity of this vantage point, we’ve been discussing if the Obama administration made a serious tactical error by not presenting its own health insurance legislation at the beginning of this process.

As we blogged about yesterday, the details were left open to Congressional committees which resulted in an open-ended, ill-defined speculation as to what reform would look like.

Now facing fading support, President Obama is now trying to reclaim the conversation.

As a forerunner to the president’s congressional address next week, the White House sent out a positive summary of public sentiment toward Obama’s health care effort. Citing specific poll results from media organizations and the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, the memo stated that:

• Americans overwhelmingly favor major changes.
• They support a crackdown on insurance company practices.
• Many people are unaware of what is being proposed.
• But when they are informed about major components, overall support rises. 

The president’s pollster, Joel Benenson, asserted that there is now, “a significant opportunity to clearly define health insurance reform, replacing Republican misrepresentations with facts.”

This was echoed by a new web video from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that accuses Republicans and conservatives of employing “fiction and fear” in the health care debate.

The stat we found the most telling was one from an August 31poll from CBS about the public’s lack of understanding toward the health care overhaul. They found that, “Only 31% say they understand the health care reforms under consideration in Congress, while 67% say they find them confusing.”

No matter what side reform winds up coming down on, we hope it is an outcome based on the facts, and what will actually improve the system.

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