Obama health check

President Obama’s campaign pledge to widen health coverage to as many of the non insured as possible is stumbling amid partisan wrangling

First off it should be said that Obama hasn’t actually proposed a health plan. Instead he has laid out a framework and has asked Democrats in Congress to fill in the details. As a result there are a number of plans on the table, but the key will be getting the House and Senate to agree. This will not be easy, especially with Obama having set a deadline for the two houses to pass their versions before the recess. The thinking behind this being that once Congress resumes after August the two houses can thrash out their differences.

The politics of health care, even health care per se, in the USA is extremely complicated. But the key here to bear in mind is that the Republicans are trying to stall because they know that if a plan is not passed by the Senate this side of the summer, debate will wrangle on into late autumn, a time when Congress is supposed to be dealing with other big issues on the table, especially climate change.

Obama has made health care the central plank of his plan for progressive change and this is make or break. As his poll ratings begin to gradually fall, and worries amongst voters about the cost of these plans begin to rise, the next couple of weeks are a narrow window of opportunity.

Watch this space. Indeed, following the health care debate will go a long way to making study of the separation of powers and Congress a lot easier to get your head around when you study the government of the USA.