Health Care Legislation — Where We Stand

Here‘s a story out today (I know you’re excited, two in one day!) about the state of health care reform legislation. While everyone agrees that the loss of Tom Daschle was a set back, most folks that I’ve spoken with this week feel Obama’s doubling down in the budget and in his address to the joint session of Congress has overcome any loss of momentum. “I feel like someone just fired the starting gun,” one stakeholder told me. Obama’s two health components in the budget — health IT and the cost effectiveness study are an important first step. The budget was a second step — but several of the experts I spoke with reminded me that there are thousands steps in this waltz and however experienced the dancers, it’s easy to trip and fall.