The Seismic Impact of the Baucus Retirement on Health Policy
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) stunned Washington recently with his announcement that he was retiring and would not seek reelection in 2014. Next to the Majority Leader, he’s probably the most powerful guy in the Senate — and definitely so on health policy. Attention turned to who’s next and what it means for Medicare, Medicaid and health reform.
The second in line on the Finance Committee now is Jay Rockefeller, but the towering liberal West Virginian has already announced that he too plans to retire next year. If Finance goes in order of seniority, as is customary, lefty firebrand and former Gray Panthers leader Ron Wyden (D-OR) would be in line to succeed Baucus as Chairman in 2014 if the Democrats hold the Senate — the first year the Affordable Care Act’s major health reforms like health insurance exchanges take effect.
It’s a critical transition as Wyden was the only Democrat to work on a Medicare premium support plan with House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). They later diverged and Wyden didn’t support the bill Ryan took to the House floor — but Wyden had already irked fellow Democrats both because they didn’t like the policy and because he gave Ryan some bipartisan cover in an election season. Although Wyden did support President Obama’s health care effort in 2009-10, he had spent many months trying to put together an alternative approach with then-Utah Sen. Robert Bennett, a Republican. That plan would have moved the country away from the employer-sponsored health insurance system to a market for individuals to buy their own insurance, with subsidies for low-income people.
So liberal lion as he is, Wyden remains the rare member of our upper chamber who’s still willing to reach out to the other side to get things done, and that bodes well for the critical business of Finance, which will include a rewrite of the tax code, continuing Medicare reforms, and the inevitable tweaks to ObamaCare to come. You”ll be hearing much more from the senior senator from Oregon in 2014 and beyond.
Resources
Read Gorman Health Group’s recap of the 2013 GHG Forum, which includes details regarding preparing for the health insurance exchanges. This free download is available on the Point.
GHG policy expert Jean LeMasurier provides an overview of key takeaways from CMS’ proposed rule CMS-9957- P-Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Program Integrity; Exchange, SHOP, Premium Stabilization Programs, and Market Standards.