Alfonse D'Amato

Moving on to health care reform, and a healthier economy

Posted

Now that the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare is apparently dead, it’s time for Congress to get on with repairing Obamacare’s serious flaws, stabilizing health care insurance costs and addressing the other tough but doable issues it faces.
Unlike the supermajority of 60 senators that enabled Democrats to steamroll health care legislation through the Senate without bipartisan support in 2009, today’s Senate Republican majority of 52 members never had the cushion it needed to pass its health care proposals. As able as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is, he simply couldn’t satisfy enough of his own members to get a bill passed. And conflicting signals from President Trump didn’t help.
That’s why members should take the advice of one of the Senate’s most experienced members, John McCain, who suggested that the Senate “return to regular order” to design a replacement for Obamacare.
“One of the major problems with Obamacare,” McCain said, “was that it was written on a strict party-line basis and driven through Congress without a single Republican vote. As this law continues to crumble in states across the country, we must not repeat the original mistakes that led to Obamacare’s failure.
“The Congress must . . . hold hearings, receive input from members of both parties and heed the recommendations of our nation’s governors,” McCain added, “so that we can produce a bill that finally provides Americans with access to quality and affordable health care.” That’s sound counsel that could be the basis for addressing outstanding health care issues in a bipartisan manner and actually succeeding in making health care more accessible and affordable for all Americans.

Senators might start by revisiting a bipartisan legislative proposal offered before Obamacare was rammed through. A dozen of the original sponsors of that bill, including leading health care experts like Senators Lamar Alexander and Ron Wyden, are still in the Senate, and might form the nucleus for a broad-based health care fix that could finally pass and become law.
And while it’s considering health care issues, Congress must also focus attention on the looming deadline to extend the national debt limit to cover increased spending it has already approved. That, too, will necessitate less partisan posturing, with both sides giving ground on budget-busting positions. Republicans will have to temper the urge to cut taxes too deeply, and Democrats will have to rein in their social spending impulses, or by this fall the U.S. Treasury will be staring over a “fiscal cliff” that could shatter the U.S. economy.
Breathing additional life into the nation’s economy should be an immediate priority. Independent analyses almost universally project economic growth well below that which would help bolster the business and job expansion needed to close future budget gaps. Just a 1 percent additional increase in gross domestic product could make a big difference to the nation’s financial well-being.
Threading this economic needle will require all the skill that Congressional leaders and the president can muster. Carefully targeted tax reforms that reduce business tax burdens and encourage repatriation of trillions of dollars stashed in overseas tax havens would be a good start. Reforms to reduce regulatory burdens imposed on businesses would help, too. And sooner rather than later, Congress must face the inevitable fact that reining in future growth in Medicare and Social Security has to be part of any serious effort to reduce deficits and the ever-growing national debt.
Obviously, none of this will be easy. I know from experience that making tough decisions in Washington can have uncomfortable political consequences. But not making the right decisions could cause the economy to fall into a recession even more devastating than the last one. It’s time for Congress to put aside partisanship and do what’s best for the American people.
As I was writing this, news broke that my good friend and former colleague John McCain is fighting another battle with cancer. He is one of the great heroes of our time and a man who has shown uncommon valor throughout his life. Known for his courage and tenacity, he is in the prayers and thoughts of all Americans, and especially those of us who had the honor to serve with him.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. Comments about this column? ADAmato@liherald.com.