Legal Commentary

The Platform: Health Care

By TChris

We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that laws are made by the legislature, not the president. Any proposal for a substantial change in the law that the president sends to Congress is likely to be amended repeatedly before it comes back to the president for a signature.

Recognizing that reality, presidential platforms tend to be more general than specific. Still, it appears the Democratic platform will recognize (as it should) the valuable contributions that Hillary Clinton and others have made to the debate over health care reform.

The committee charged with updating the platform agreed to include suggestions from Clinton, whose campaign emphasized universal health care.

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In a draft of the platform, the party described health care as "a shared responsibility between employers, workers, insurers, providers and government. All Americans should have coverage they can afford."

Michael Yaki, an Obama aide who directed the platform meetings, said the new language was a recognition there may be more than one way to achieve the shared goal of universal coverage.

"There's no real consensus yet on which is the best health care reform to do other than we are committed to universality and we're committed to getting there," Yaki said. "We believe that as you make health care more affordable, people will be able to buy health care - that's the basic principle. How we get there is a matter of the legislative process." ...

Chris Jennings, a Clinton backer and drafting committee member, worked to insert stronger language from Clinton's plan, particularly on the "shared responsibility."

"It was important that that was stated quite clearly in the platform," said Jennings, who served as health care adviser to former President Clinton. He said the committee's move was "an honorable accommodation that illustrates a commitment to unity." ...

"While there are differing approaches within the party about how best to achieve the commitment of universal coverage, we stand united to achieve this fundamental objective through the legislative process," according to the draft.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 03, 2008 (boomark / email).