Obamacare: Lieberman Says, “Slow Down, You Move Too Fast”

Yesterday, I noted that having former Senator Tom Daschle close to the White House’s health care reform effort was no way to assuage wary voters about rationing.  Today, the NYT has a front page story on his influence on the issue both at the White House and in Congress.  Is SHS on the ball or is SHS on the ball?

But enough about me. Today, Senator Lieberman—who votes Dem on domestic issues—added to the likelihood that Obamacare will soon be towed back to the shop for some badly needed repairs.  From the story:

An independent senator counted on by Democrats in the health care debate showed signs of wavering Sunday when he urged President Obama to postpone many of his initiatives because of the economic downturn.  “I’m afraid we’ve got to think about putting a lot of that off until the economy’s out of recession,” said Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. “There’s no reason we have to do it all now, but we do have to get started. And I think the place to start is cost health delivery reform and insurance market reforms.”

Insurance reform is precisely where the problem that needs fixing is to be found.  If we can make it easier for people to be insured—and for business to provide insurance for employees—a nationwide market, add in vouchers, perhaps some subsidized health clinics in malls and etc., we can make a big dent in the problem of access to care without killing the patient.