Health care takes precedence

Barack Obama has made it clear that health care reform is his highest domestic policy priority. And now, with both a U.S. Senate bill and a House of Representatives bill voted through, his dream – and that of millions of Americans – is closer than ever  to being realized.

Once both bills are reconciled, this historic legislation should extend coverage to almost 96 percent of all Americans, offering relief for low- and middle-income families who have seen medical bills eating up their paychecks over the decades. This is why the Obama administration should put the well-being of the American people above efforts to remain bipartisan.

If passed, this will be the most extensive overhaul of the American health system since the 1960s. Health care reform was the dream of presidents such as Lyndon B. Johnson and Bill Clinton, but at this point in history Obama has the opportunity to make it a reality.

It would come as a godsend to the nearly 47 million Americans with no health insurance and the 25 million without enough coverage to keep up with their medical bills.

But Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. said, “My colleagues and I will work to stop this bill from becoming law.”

With sentiments such as this against the bill’s success, it is no wonder that the Obama administration is planning to bypass traditional procedures in finalizing a compromise on health care legislation. Democratic aides explained that final compromise talks will be a “three-way negotiation” between top Democrats in the House and Senate and the White House.

While a formal House-Senate conference committee is traditionally established to reconcile differences in bills from the House and Senate, in this situation allowances should be made in the interest of time. If all goes according to plan, an agreement will be reached and both houses will be asked to vote as quickly as possible. This way, time-consuming procedural steps will be skipped and Republicans will not be able to delay the negotiations.

Formality is a lynch pin of our political process, but in certain instances the issues outweigh the importance of procedure. When it comes to the matter of health care, millions of Americans are depending on the passage of this bill. For many, their lives and livelihoods depend on it. If there is ever a time for the Obama administration to bypass the civility of bipartisanship, it is now.