Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has put together a coalition of 14 Democratic and Republican senators around a compromise health care proposal that would replace the current system of tax-exempt, employer-based health insurance with a system of tax credits or deductions for individuals to purchase insurance on their own. Democratic leaders have been dismissive of the proposal, and it has failed to gain traction. But after Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf testified before the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday that current Democratic plans would not reduce the government's health care costs in the long term, Wyden saw an opportunity to get his plan back in the mix.
Roundtable Discussion on “Expanding Health Care Coverage” Senator Ron Wyden May 5, 2009.
A member of the Budget Committee, Wyden asked Elmendorf first to confirm that his plan would contain costs and cut taxes for millions of Americans and then to confirm that current Democratic plans wouldn't significantly reduce insurance premiums. Wyden, who is also a member of the crucial Senate Finance Committee, spoke to a couple of reporters immediately after the hearing about how his plan could solve the problems facing the primary Democratic health care proposals. Edited excerpts of his comments follow.
On the primary Democratic health care proposals:
Wyden: I feel very, very strongly that the president selected the right timetable, which is to get this done this year. But what we learned this morning is there's a lot of heavy lifting left to do to get this job done right. The American people want it done this year. They've watched Congress yak about this subject since the middle of the last century. What we learned today is there's a lot of heavy lifting left to do to get it done right. I had a big round of town meetings. People at home are saying, hey, in Washington they're telling me my premium's going to go down and I'm going to get more choices. What I was doing this morning, what I laid out, is most people are not going to see their premiums go down in the next few years, and a great many of them are not going to get more choices.
On whether the Finance Committee is producing a plan to reduce insurance premiums:
Wyden: We continue to do our work, but I think a growing number of senators on both sides of the aisle are seeing this premium issue as a flashpoint. That's what the citizen is going to say. And you know, 14 United States senators are sponsoring a bill that shows that in a budget-neutral way it's possible to create more choices for all Americans, hold down costs and provide real relief to workers, put more money in their pockets. That's why I asked Dr. Elmendorf about our approach, and he answered yes, this will provide a tax cut for more than 35 million working-class people; two, it will provide an incentive to shop; and three, you'll have some money left over for the uninsured. His answer to my first question was exactly what I hope the American people will come to see. And that was my point in saying -- if you go to them and say, so folks, do you want to pay taxes on your health care? People look at you like you just flipped. My constituents' responses are 'no way,' usually with curse words before no way. But if you say to them, hey [the current system of tax exemptions] goes mostly to the well off, and we'd like to redo this so you get a break, and we can hold down costs in health care, people say 'hey, tell me some more about that.'
On whether his proposal is still on the table:
Wyden: We're still working on that. Until decisions are made, no decisions are made. I'm going to continue to press every opportunity the idea of converting this exclusion into a generous above-the-line fixed credit or a deduction. It does three good things. One, it provides a tax break to more than 35 million working-class people. Two, it provides incentives to people to shop to contain costs. And three, it provides additional revenue to start the transition to covering the uninsured. When I asked that of Dr. Elmendorf, he answered yes to each one of those three effects. I think that's the first time we've had that on the record from Dr. Elmendorf.
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