Health Care Again Tops the Agenda, This Time of GOP

January 5, 2011

The Wall Street Journal

NAFTALI BENDAVID, JANET HOOK and JANET ADAMY

WASHINGTON—The new Congress prepared to begin business Wednesday much where lawmakers left off before the November election—battling over the merits of the Democrats' health-care overhaul.

The two parties clashed Tuesday over plans by Republicans, who will take control of the House when Congress reconvenes, to hold a vote next week to repeal the health law. That fight is largely symbolic, as any repeal measure would be rejected by the Democratic-led Senate and President Barack Obama.

But next week's skirmish could help determine the course of the longer battle to come, as House Republicans zero in on more targeted measures to dismantle the law or strip funding needed to implement it. If either party gains ground in public opinion, it will likely gain a strengthened hand in jockeying over the law.

Already, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has begun an effort to push Congress to repeal the law's requirement that larger employers provide insurance or pay a penalty.

"I think we can clearly demonstrate that jobs are not being created because of that provision," said James Gelfand, director of health policy at the Chamber, which opposes the law.

Should efforts to remove the requirement fail, the Chamber will push lawmakers to water it down by minimizing its penalties or exempting more businesses. The National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small employers, is backing the Chamber's push.

Democratic leaders on Tuesday said they would stand firm against any effort to repeal or scale back the law.

"Fruitlessly trying to nick health care reform to death is going to take hundreds of hours of staff time, floor time and member time," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.). She said the time would be better spent trying to create jobs and improve the economy.

Democrats also sought to contrast the repeal proposal with Republicans' pledge to cut the federal deficit, citing projections that the health law will save the government an estimated $138 billion over 10 years due to tax increases, cuts to Medicare and other changes.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R., Va.), the incoming House majority leader, said voters had rendered a clear verdict against the health law.

"It is a job-killing health care bill that spends money we don't have," he said. Republicans also say cost-savings projections are flawed and that the law will cost money as time goes on.

With Republicans reviving the health fight, other industry groups were restarting efforts to strip away their least favorite pieces of the law.

Insurers were targeting a tax on their industry that starts in 2014 and will total $8 billion that year, arguing that it would mostly get passed on to small employers because it effectively bypasses large firms that are self insured.

Drug makers sought to neutralize a new panel that recommends cuts in Medicare spending.

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