Quote of the Day: Patrick Kennedy, to Ted Kennedy, on health-care reform

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Rep. Kennedy (D-R.I.) left a note at his father's gravesite on Monday. It read:

Dad -- The unfinished business is done.

Not to take away from the sentiment, which I tend to share (and I do wish Teddy had been around for this), but the business isn't done yet. There's a whole lot more to be done, beyond reconciliation in the Senate, and hopefully that more will come in the months and years to come, as improvements to this reform package are made. (Public option, anyone?)

Also, as Jonathan Chait wrote:

Obama's plan closely mirrors three proposals that have attracted the support of Republicans who reside within their party's mainstream: The first is the 1993 Senate Republican health plan, which is compared with Obama's plan here, with the similarity endorsed by former Republican Senator Dave Durenberger here. The second is the Bipartisan Policy Center plan, endorsed by Bob Dole, Howard baker, George Mitchell and Tom Daschle, which is compared to Obama's plan here. And the third, of course, is Mitt Romney's Massachusetts plan, which was crafted by the same economist who helped create Obama's plan, and which is rhetorically indistinguishable from Obama's.

In other words, it's a largely Republican plan -- if Republican of yesterday, not today. Republicans objected to it for partisan purposes but also because they themselves have moved far to the right in recent years. How odd it is that what is seen as a Democratic triumph is actually, in many ways, non-Democratic. But just as the Republican Party has moved to the right, so has the center generally, with media narratives following the GOP lead. It's a shame that Obama didn't push for inclusion of a public option, but it's a good start nonetheless, and it may very well be the best that could have been achieved at the present time, all things considered.

But a triumph it is, I think, and a historic one, and it's one I'll happily take. (For now.)

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Jonathan Cohn provides some historical context, linking the bill back to Truman and Johnson:

The compromises that went into this legislation are, by now, well-known. It won't be fully effective for several years and, even then, several million people will likely lack health insurance. People won't have the option of enrolling in a new public plan; the private plans many carry will still have substantial deductibles. Government accounts predict the plan will reduce the rate of growth in medical spending only modestly. The full realization of Harry Truman's dream, of affordable health insurance for every American, will remain elusive.

But, like Medicare, this bill represents a monumental step forward. The numbers are impossible to ignore. More than 30 million additional people will have insurance; even those with sizable deductibles will have protection from the kind of ruinous financial liabilities they face now. There is no public plan -- for now! -- but there is extensive regulation, including requirements that insurers spend more money on actual patient care. What we spend on medical care isn’t going to plummet. But it won't rise as fast as it might otherwise. And, over the long run, that can save a lot of money -- particularly if we are smart enough to learn and adapt as we go.

And, as with Medicare, this bill is every bit as important for the statement it makes. Medicare affirms the principle that the elderly have a right to affordable medical care, even if it requires government help. Medicaid does the same for the poor. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act extends the promise of affordable care to the rest of the country -- a promise that will be fulfilled, one way or another, by the government.

It will not happen today, tomorrow, or even in 2014, the first year of full implementation. And you can expect plenty of problems along the way. But history tells us that first we we agree to an obligation -- and then we spend some time, maybe a long time, meeting it. Medicare grew to cover more and more benefits; Medicaid grew to cover more and more people. The same will happen with this act, I am sure.

In the meantime, life will get a little better for most people and a lot better for a few. The sick will get some care. The fearful will know some serenity.

And somewhere LBJ will be smiling. Harry Truman, too.

And surely also Ted Kennedy.