Is George Voinovich Getting Ready to Play Ball on Health Care?

Over the last several weeks, a number of Democratic sources have suggested that Senate leaders might be able to convince the retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) to support a health care reform package--or at least to agree not to support a filibuster of it.

We now have a couple of telling data points, suggesting there may be something to that hunch. In advance of President Obama's speech last night, Voinovich released a long, and mostly dour statement about the status of the health care fight.

"I am concerned that the president is pushing for sweeping reform without closely studying all the consequences," Voinovich said. "To date, many of his ideas have lacked vital details and have left me with more questions than answers."

Voinovich's concerns ran the gamut from the plan's budget impact, to Obama's unwillingness to endorse malpractice reform, to Medicare solvency, and to abortion.

"It is my hope the president will finally address my questions tonight," Voinovich grumbled. "From what I've seen thus far, pushing forward with the type of health care reform being proposed by President Obama does not move the country in the right direction."

But Obama did address most of his questions last night, and today, Voinovich is out with another statement that's a bit more optimistic.

"I am pleased President Obama included several ideas and reforms fundamental to providing affordable, quality health care for all Americans," Voinovich says. "However, I still have many serious concerns and questions about the details of the president's health reform plan."

You can read his entire statement below. All political signs seem to indicate that the White House and Senate Democrats are much more focused on the concerns of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). But they may not be wrong to think that Voinovich--who isn't running for re-election, and doesn't face the same pressures his other, more moderate colleagues face--might also help them get over the 60-vote hurdle in the Senate. At the very least, an interesting dynamic to keep an eye on.

"In the outline of a health care proposal laid out last night, I am pleased President Obama included several ideas and reforms fundamental to providing affordable, quality health care for all Americans. However, I still have many serious concerns and questions about the details of the president's health reform plan. The devil will be in the details of the health care bill that comes to the table.

"I agree with the president that every individual should be responsible for purchasing some level of health insurance coverage. I also believe that reforms to the insurance market that would restrict discrimination for preexisting conditions and caps on coverage are important, and agree that we must make it easier for individuals and small businesses to purchase insurance.

"I appreciate the president's commitment that federal dollars will not be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place. I also agree that medical lawsuits and practicing defensive medicine are driving up the cost of health care and must be reformed -the cost of excessive tests and other procedures prescribed by physicians to avoid lawsuits add to the annual cost of health care.

"In terms of my concerns, first and foremost, I have serious doubts that the president's plan can be completely paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system. CBO Director Doug Elmendorf has said the president's proposal and the bills currently being debated would 'significantly expand the federal responsibility for health care costs,' putting the nation further into debt. We can no longer pass the buck to future generations. I look forward to seeing the details. Our national spending is already out of control and our national debt continues to skyrocket. The debt burden has grown from $5.6 trillion in 1999, when I first came to Washington, to a staggering $11.8 trillion today - more than a 100 percent increase in 10 years.

"Last night, President Obama also failed to address the unrealistic reimbursement rates, existing lack of access to the doctors of their choice for Medicaid patients, and the unsustainable costs and bureaucratic complications of the existing program. An even greater problem than these issues is that under most of the proposals before Congress, Medicaid would be expanded at a cost not only to the federal government, but also to the states. At a time when Ohio is relying on temporary federal cash payments to maintain the existing Medicaid program, how can we ask them to take on another $1 billion a year in their share of a Medicaid expansion? How can we talk about creating additional federal health programs before we fix our existing ones?

"While everyone agrees we must eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse in the current health care system, especially Medicare, I believe these savings must be used to shore up the existing program, which is expected to be insolvent by 2017. Since I came to the Senate, I have heard many say they want to achieve these sorts of savings, yet to little avail. I am concerned that achieving these savings without taking away choices, like Medicare Advantage, and quality care for seniors will not be an easy task.

"In fact, the President ignored a currently unfunded commitment within the Medicare program to our nation's physicians. The formula we use to reimburse doctors for the care of seniors is flawed and it will require a $285 billion fix, over the next ten years. I believe the president needs to be honest about this cost and secure access to quality physicians for our nation's seniors before we can move forward.

"Patient-doctor relationships are important and allow access to regular check-ups and preventative care conversations with a primary care physician. I would like to see the president lead a public-private partnership aimed at eliminating the obesity crisis and unhealthy lifestyles that are contributing to the growth in health care costs. We could move ahead with these types of life changing and cost-saving campaigns, the most effective ways to reduce cost.

"There are a number of ideas on both sides of the aisle that deserve careful evaluation. As the president said last night, we have a number of things to work on from here."