Yesterday, Pelosi talked about a two-track approach to getting healthcare reform passed, in which the smaller parts of the House bill that could be passed as stand-alone legislation would be acted on while the negotiations with the Senate continue on the "sidecar" approach--passing a reconciliation fix to clear the way for the House to pass the Senate bill.
Today, it appears that she's ready to act on that with word that the House will move forward with one of those stand-alone pieces: repealing the insurance industry's anti-trust exemption.
A House source confirms that, the week after next, Pelosi will likely move ahead with legislation to accomplish such a repeal.
Pelosi hinted strongly that such a move was afoot at her weekly press conference this morning.
"We must pass this legislation, and we must take whatever time it takes to do it," Pelosi said. Some things we can do on the side which may not fit into a bigger plan. That doesn't mean that's a substitute for doing comprehensive [reform]. It means we will move on many fronts. Any front we can."
"Some of these sidebar issues are issues that are very important, they can be done, they can move quickly, and that's not about one thing before another," Pelosi added. "It's about time."
Pushing an element of reform through could help break the current logjam and get some momentum going again on the reform effort. It would show the public that Congress is indeed serious about reform. Given that the negotiation process between the House and Senate is likely to take some time, once the Senate has even committed to the reconciliation approach, showing that work is getting done will be key to keeping the public on board.
This particular bill also hits at the insurance industry in a smart way. While in the absence of real, enforceable insurance regulation removing the exemption would largely be symbolic, it would be politically very smart for Congress to demonstrate they are not in the pockets of big insurance. It also puts the handful of Senators who are in the pockets of big insurance (oh, like, Lieberman for example) in the position of having to directly vote either for the American people or the industry.