The Light at the End of the Health Care Tunnel Might Be a Train

One of the GOP Senate negotiators is warning that the health care bill as currently structured will not get the job done:

A leading GOP negotiator on health care struck a further blow to fading chances of a bipartisan compromise by saying Democratic proposals would restrict medical choices and make the country's "finances sicker without saving you money."

The criticism from Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., echoed that of many opponents of the Democratic plans under consideration in Congress. But Enzi's judgment was especially noteworthy because he is one of only three Republicans who have been willing to consider a bipartisan bill in the Senate.

In the Republicans' weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday, Enzi said any health care legislation must lower medical costs for Americans without increasing deficits and the national debt.

"The bills introduced by congressional Democrats fail to meet these standards," he said.

Enzi, together with Republican Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Olympia Snowe of Maine, has held talks with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. But the chance of a bipartisan breakthrough has diminished in the face of an effective public mobilization by opponents of Democratic proposals.

"I heard a lot of frustration and anger as I traveled across my home state this last few weeks," said Enzi, who has been targeted by critics for seeking to negotiate on legislation. "People in Wyoming and across the country are anxious about what Washington has in mind. This is big. This is personal. This is one of the most important debates of our lifetime."

He called for more competition among health insurers, for the ability of small businesses to band together across state lines to negotiate for lower-cost insurance plans, for tax breaks to help people buy insurance and for reducing malpractice lawsuits.

Opening the market to allow companies to sell across state lines would go a long way to increasing genuine competition and reducing costs. Tort reform could also take a big chunk out costs.

However, Democrats are not interested in real competition. They're idea of competition is a public option that would so badly undercut the private companies that they'd be forced out of business. "Competition" to Democrats is a single-payer system.

And don't look for any tort reform coming from the party of trial lawyers. Even Howard Dean admitted the Dem bill writers didn't want to take them on.

Losing Enzi will make the Dems even more desperate since they needed some Republicans to declare this thing bipartisan and avoid a filibuster.

Should get even more interesting now.