Wall Street Journal Examines Challenges Faced by Obama Administration, New Congress

While President-elect Barack Obama has said his top priorities after taking office will be the current economic downturn and national security, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has called for swift action on health care -- a "juxtaposition [that] highlights a challenge facing the newly powerful Democrats: keeping the White House and Congress on the same page," the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, "One-party rule may sound like a guarantee of harmonious action, but the president and Congress often have different interests, agendas and rhythms." According to the Journal, "conflicts could arise" between Obama and the Democratic Congress "on everything from health reform to defense spending." Democrats view the coming session of Congress "as their best opportunity since the Great Depression to enact sweeping change, and they know intraparty squabbling could ruin that once-in-a-generation chance," the Journal reports.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said, "Unity is required for us to accomplish the goals we want," adding, "We know sometimes people don't distinguish between the performance of the two different branches of government. To be successful, we need to work together." According to the Journal, Obama's time in the Senate "could help him avoid problems," in addition to the relationships that many in his administration have with lawmakers, including Vice President-elect Joe Biden and HHS Secretary nominee Tom Daschle. In addition, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is replacing Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Journal reports that Waxman's views "better align with Obama's."

The Journal reports, "Most analysts expect the unity between Mr. Obama and fellow Democrats to be strongest at the outset, with any cracks showing later." According to the Journal, "Democrats stress that they have consensus on the broad outlines of an agenda, if not the details: They want to start with a sizable stimulus package and move on to energy and health care." Van Hollen said, "The good news is that we're all agreed on what the priorities need to be and what the first order of business should be," adding, "Everyone agrees that it's the adoption of an economic recovery plan" (Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, 12/1).

Single-Payer vs. Public-Private
Among proponents of universal health care, a "new fault line is forming" between advocates of a single-payer system and a public-private system, The Politico reports. While both groups are pushing for universal care, "the more purist single-payer advocates believe that any approach that retains the insurance industry is doomed to fail," according to The Politico. "So far, though, groups working to create a public insurance plan that exists alongside tightly regulated private plans have grabbed the political high ground -- largely because many deem a single-payer system too easy to demonize as socialized medicine," The Politico reports (Frates, The Politico, 12/1).

Opinion Piece
The U.S. "faces significant health challenges including skyrocketing health care costs, declining funding for medical and scientific research, and a lack of effective coordination and innovation in the government's response to emerging health threats such as obesity and pandemic flu," Susan Blumenthal -- former U.S. assistant surgeon general, director of the Health and Medicine Program at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and a clinical professor at Georgetown School of Medicine -- and Yi-An Ko, a recent graduate of Harvard University and a former health policy fellow at the CSP, write in a Washington Times opinion piece. "Addressing these issues must be a top national and foreign policy priority for the next administration," Blumenthal and Ko write.

They continue, "With transformational leadership, President-elect Barack Obama has the opportunity to build upon his predecessors' legacies and write a new national prescription for improving the health of Americans." According to the authors, "A key component of this presidential prescription is ensuring that all Americans have access to quality health care," and Obama must "emphasize the power of prevention by providing the leadership, role-modeling, and necessary funding." In addition, "The new administration must also find ways to apply information technology to improve health ... while protecting the privacy of patients' health information," they continue. The write, "Another important priority is more effective coordination of federal health initiatives to address the health challenges and opportunities ahead," as well as investments in biomedical, behavioral, epidemiological and health-services research (Blumenthal/Ko, Washington Times, 11/30).

Broadcast Coverage
C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" on Monday included a discussion with Congressional Quarterly reporter Drew Armstrong about how the Obama administration and the 111th Congress might address health care ("Washington Journal," C-SPAN, 12/1).

NPR's "All Things Considered" last week reported on how the process by which Medicaid was established could provide clues as to how health care overhaul could be passed in the 111th Congress (Shapiro, "All Things Considered," NPR, 11/26).