I heard several pundits over the last few days say that if we went through the budget reconciliation process to get health care reform done, that key elements would be lost - such as getting rid of "pre-existing condition" exemption, and preventing folks from getting dropped, etc.
Ok, so I have a (perhaps naive) question:
Why not pass the "weak" version of the bill, that includes those reforms - including one which I think is rather strong, i.e. limiting insurance companies to 10% overhead costs -- and then, use reconciliation to institute some mechanism like the public option?
I mean, i just can't help but wonder why this hasn't been discussed so far. So I thought maybe there's some reason I am aware of that would prevent such a maneuver.
I apologize for a short diary, but I had to ask this simple question.
And I chose not to make it a comment in an open thread, because I am hoping that if this idea could be feasible, that it generate quite a lot of discussion here....
Or not. Maybe this is not in the news because it is the very plan that some in the Senate (or the White House) have in the back of their minds, and they don't speak about it so as not to telegraph their move.
Maybe I shouldn't even bring it up.
But you know, watching Joe Lieberman and others control this "debate" while other Democrats sit impotently by invokes the urge toward projectile vomiting... so I had to channel it here instead.