The prospects for major health reform are suddenly not looking so good. So, what happened? A group of Kaiser Health News writers do a nice job today of describing why public support for reform faltered, and which policy decisions have made the legislation a hard sell. The bottom line:
Certainly, relentless attacks by the Republicans - as well as the Democrats' own inability to clearly articulate the benefits of the legislation - are partly responsible for the legislation's lack of popularity. So are crucial policy decisions made by Democratic leaders as they struggled to push the legislation through Congress, according to experts of different ideological persuasions.
“Health reform is a really hard thing to do," says Jonathan Oberlander, associate professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "They did a lot right, strategically. But you can do everything right and still fail in health reform."
Previously: Victor Fuchs comments on the public's opinion of health reform
Photo by aflcio2008
