ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607310015
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
CRITICS MAY snarl that it's about time, but Congress deserves credit this week for clearing the major obstacle blocking agreement on a couple of health-insurance reforms important to the middle class.
There is no guarantee, of course, that other differences between the House and Senate versions of the health bill will be bridged. But with a compromise on tax-free medical savings accounts finally worked out between Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, who opposes MSAs, and Rep. Bill Archer, Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and an ardent proponent, lawmakers were feeling optimistic that Congress would be able to pass the measure.
Good. Approval is important to working Americans - those who still have the benefit of employee health insurance, anyway. The bill, which Kennedy co-sponsored with Republican Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, would help people with pre-existing medical conditions get coverage, and would let those who have insurance keep it when they change or lose jobs.
These were the most popular features of President Clinton's comprehensive health-care reform package, which failed spectacularly in the early years of his administration. They are desired by a wide swath of the population: Americans who fear being shackled to their jobs to keep health benefits.
That includes a good portion of the electorate, so there is reason for the optimism on Capitol Hill that a deal will be struck. Democrats and Republicans alike would prefer to head into November's election with an achievement to sell, rhetoric about downsizing government aside.
Republicans want to press ahead with MSAs, which would have people pay their own routine medical bills from tax-free savings accounts while carrying high-deductible insurance for catastrophic illnesses. The premise is sound: that people are more likely to be frugal when the money they save is their own.
Democrats are worried, as usual, about those pesky people without money to save. MSAs won't help them. And if healthier, wealthier people abandon traditional insurance plans, what will become of coverage for the less fortunate? This week's compromise, allowing a four-year experiment with 750,000 MSAs, might clarify the issue.
Political grumpies have cause to ask why it took so long to reach, but they also should keep in mind Edmund Burke's observation that all government is founded on compromise. Usually, a good thing.
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