Obama shifts on health care

In the past week Obama has shifted his talking points on health care reform. Whereas, for much of the debate the line of attack has been on the inefficiencies and expense of the health care system as a whole, in the last week he's changed the tune:

As polls showed eroding support for his overhaul of the nation's healthcare system, President Obama spent Wednesday courting the majority of Americans who already have insurance and are most resistant to the proposed changes.

By doing this Obama has substantially improved his odds of getting something out of congress this year.

Obama highlighted a series of consumer protections he would like to see remain in the final bill-including requirements that insurers cover preexisting conditions and don't withhold coverage from the seriously ill.

With the Gates arrest taking center stage for a few days in the A.D.D. media, this shift has been somewhat overlooked. Obama will no doubt take to the bully pulpit throughout August with this new message directed at the insured middle class. It has resonance.

In resorting to its usual screams of "socialism" the GOP has missed a fundamental element in the current health care debate atmosphere: many, many insured people resent and fear their insurance companies. Regulating health insurers will be very popular.

I suspect the public option in any form will fade, then disappear, from the final bill. The House progressive caucus will have fits - but in the end they will cave. They always do. What we will end up with is a bill that forces people to buy insurance and forces insurers to accept everyone. Since most people are healthy this will be a boon for insurers.

Obama can claim victory and it will be a victory of sorts. But it's a far cry from what he promised and does nothing to address the essential problem: the massive insurance "middle man" bureaucracy that rations care for profit.