Wyden seeks bipartisan support of health care plan

Sen. Ron Wyden said Monday that he has been meeting with Democrats, Republicans and the White House as he tries to gather steam for his health care reform proposal before presidential campaigns take control of Washington.

Health care is one of the top issues facing Congress this session, with a number of competing proposals and a push by President Bush in his State of the Union address for health tax reform.

Wyden, a Democrat, said he thinks the focus on health care makes it a prime time for his sweeping proposal.

“I think there is an opportunity for a historic bipartisan health reform effort,” Wyden said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“If you don’t take steps to fix health care, it’s hard to get on with the rest of your agenda,” Wyden said.

Wyden said he has gotten initial support from members of both parties and hopes the effort will be well under way by September when the presidential campaign will be at full tilt.

His ambitious proposal, dubbed the Healthy Americans Act, would provide health care coverage for all Americans equal to what members of Congress get.

It would abolish the current system, where most people get insurance through their employer. Instead, employers would “cash out” their existing health plans by paying the amount saved directly to workers as increased wages. Workers then would be required to buy health insurance from a pool of private plans.

The proposal would make insurance mandatory for everyone, except for those covered through Medicare or the military.

After two years, companies would no longer have to pay the higher wages. Instead, the companies would pay into an insurance pool, based on annual revenues and number of workers.

The plan would not cost more than what the country already spends on health insurance, according to Wyden. One analysis by the Lewin Group, a Virginia-based health care consulting firm, estimates it would save nearly $1.4 trillion in total national health care spending over the next decade.

The plan has drawn support from some groups that typically oppose each other, such as the Service Employees International Union and the head of Safeway Inc.

But it is too early to say whether Wyden’s proposal will gain traction.

Contacted by the AP, the offices of several of Wyden’s Democratic colleagues said the Oregon senator has been working with them but they are still reviewing a number of health proposals.

Mohit Ghose, a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plan, a lobbying group for the industry, raised that same point.

“There are many different proposals being put on the table right now,” he said.

“We will continue to have good-faith discussions with anyone on the hill who wants to address this. Our opinion is that it is not the time to break apart proposals…this is the year that something can be done,” Ghose said.

For his part, Wyden told the AP he thinks he can win a bipartisan consensus before everyone in Washington becomes completely absorbed by the 2008 presidential race.

“I think people are starting to say, ‘Is there something that can bring Democrats and Republicans together?'” Wyden said. “I have an opportunity…to show that there is something that can fill that space.”