The Politico examines prospects for U.S. health care system overhaul

The Politico on Tuesday examined how "the skyrocketing cost of health care is putting everyone in a much more chatty and cooperative mood" about overhauling the U.S. health care system.

According to The Politico, different stakeholders in the past "have opposed policy proposals that weren't ideal, instead choosing to do nothing." However, the "status quo is a policy choice in itself that has major consequences," health care consultant Chris Jennings said, noting that health care costs are expected to increase from $2.3 trillion annually to $4 trillion annually over the next 10 years.

The Business Roundtable, the insurance industry and others who opposed the national health care program proposed by former President Bill Clinton, have recently "begun working to steer the coming debate" on health coverage, The Politico reports. According to The Politico, "One of the most active of the strange-bedfellow coalitions is Divided We Fail," which includes NFIB, the Roundtable, AARP and the Service Employees International Union. Nancy LeaMond, AARP's executive vice president for social impact, said, "Our hope is that by working together on the education piece of this and the outreach piece, that we're forming good relationships and can work together." However, The Politico reports that some supporters of health reform "see inevitable disagreement once details emerge" (Frates, The Politico, 6/10).

The Politico also examined some of the coalitions that have formed to "push health care back onto the national agenda" (Cummings, The Politico, 6/10).