EDITORIAL: A serious, bipartisan health care effort

Yakima Herald-Republic (WA)

Oct. 03--Senate Republicans for now have ended efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but that doesn't mean talks have stopped completely about what is known as Obamacare. A key difference is that now the talks aren't about scoring political points, but about how to make health care work for the millions of people who depend on it. Another key difference: Both political parties are involved instead of one, and Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray plays an important role.

Murray is the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. The two have worked before on meaty legislation; in 2015, they helped push through the Every Student Succeeds law, a serious policy redirect from its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind act.

If this sounds familiar, it's because Murray and Alexander had begun talks last month after the three previous efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare failed; their effort was put on hold in mid-September as Republicans tried again with the Graham-Cassidy bill, the final effort that Republicans abandoned last week. As in the previous Murray-Alexander negotiations, the focus is on a short-term stabilization of Obamacare insurance subsidies in order to provide certainty to health insurance markets. Democrats say more state flexibility is also part of the discussion, but Alexander hasn't confirmed that.

None of this will be useful unless the effort draws support from both parties. Many on the right are leery of endorsing any policy that can be viewed as endorsing the precepts of Obamacare, while many on the left are enamored of Sen. Bernie Sanders' call for single-payer insurance -- at a yet-to-be-determined cost.

There is plenty of room for compromise between the two positions. More importantly, the health care industry and the American public need certainty as to what will be covered and at what cost. Sen. Murray and Alexander are taking serious steps toward that goal, and let's hope their efforts sway enough senators to make a much-needed health-care fix a reality.

--Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Bob Crider and Frank Purdy.