Leavitt Recommends a Fresh Start to Health Reform

Mike Leavitt recommends a fresh start to health care reform that includes an open process and a new bill that builds upon the areas of agreement that republicans and democrats share.

Calling the circumstances since the riveting Scott Brown election to the U.S. Senate a “rare moment of political equilibrium,” Leavitt urges problem solvers on both sides of the aisle to utilize an open process to carve together needed legislation.

“It’s time for the president and congressional leaders in both parties to provide a fresh start, to create an open process and to embrace the many things upon which there is bipartisan agreement,” said Leavitt in a guest column published in the Des Moines Register.

He highlights several areas of agreement shared by members of both political parties: the need to cover pre-existing conditions, federal support of state-run uninsurable pools and state-organized exchanges, incentives for wellness, allowing young adults to stay on their parents insurance policy, and giving people who buy insurance on their own the same tax benefit as those who buy through their employer.

You can read the guest editorial in the Des Moines Register here:

Start Fresh with What People Agree Upon